In SS patients, short TL was specific to tumor cells. A and B show nuclei hybridized with peptide nucleic acid (PNA) telomere probes labeled with Cy3 (red dots) and counterstained with 4′,6′-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI) (blue). C and D show distribution of hybridized nuclei number according to their telomere fluorescence intensity values. (A) All nuclei from healthy lymphocytes exhibit a strong fluorescence signal for the telomeres and distribution was normal (C). (B) Two nuclei populations observed in SS patient cells: nuclei with strong fluorescence signals and nuclei with weak fluorescence signals and distribution was bimodal (D). (E-G) Neoplastic SS cells identified by using a double immunostaining detection procedure. (E) Cells were delineated with anti-CD3 AF594 and revealed by an anti-rabbit antibody conjugated with AlexaFluor 594 (AF594; red) and (F) with anti-CD158e/k revealed by an anti-mouse antibody conjugated with AlexaFluor 488 (AF488; green); (G) merged image. (H) Immunostaining detection was followed by a FISH investigation for the same cells using probes specific for c-myc and centromere 8 labeled with SpectrumOrange (SpO) (red spots) and SpectrumGreen (SpG) (green spots), respectively. (I-J) TL identified by using IQFISH followed by a FISH investigation into the same nuclei to reveal chromosome content. Images were acquired by using Isis software (MetaSystems); objective ×63.