KINETICS OF CELL RENEWAL, CELL MIGRATION AND CELL LOSS IN THE HAIRLESS MOUSE DORSAL EPIDERMIS

Forty hairless mice were given injections of tritiated thymidine every 4th hour during 10 days. At 24 hr intervals groups of four mice were killed. The numbers of labelled basal and differentiating cells were determined by autoradiography with a stripping film technique. To determine the background activity skin sections from uninjected control mice were subjected to the same stripping film procedure. Another group of hairless mice was given one single pulse labelling with tritiated thymidine. The number of labelled mitoses was scored for 12 hr after the injection. At 10, 12 and 15 hr after the injection, the numbers of labelled basal and differentiating cells were also determined. A mathematical model of cell population kinetics in the epidermis has been suggested. The results of different simulations on this model were compared with the observed results. The curve of mean grain counts under continuous labelling increased from day to day with two well-defined plateaux. The percentage of all labelled cells increased rapidly up to the 3rd day, and thereafter the curves gradually flattened off. When basal cells and differentiated cells were considered separately the labelling index of the basal cells increased rapidly for the first 3 days and then flattened off at the 100% level on the 5th day. The labelling index of the differentiating cells was low during the first 3–4 days. Then a steep increase in the percentage of labelled differentiating cells was seen, but the curve flattened off again close to the 100 % level after the 7th day. The labelled mitosis curve had its maximum 5 hr after the thymidine injection. The curve fell again to almost zero at 12 hr. Ten, 12 and 15 hr after the injection, 6, 7 and 7% respectively of the labelled cells were found in the spinous layer. It was concluded that three grains over each nucleus could be used as lower limit for considering a cell as labelled. On this basis, tritiated thymidine injections every 4th hour can be considered as continuous labelling.     

CELL KINETICS IN THE SEBACEOUS GLANDS OF THE MOUSE. I. THE GLANDS IN RESTING SKIN

Cell proliferation, differentiation and migration have been studied in the sebaceous glands of DBA-2 mice in the resting (telogen) phase of hair growth. Cells labelled by a single injection of tritiated thymidine start to leave the glands of adult male mice 5 days later. About 80% of the proliferative cells in the basal layer have a cell cycle time of 40 hr or less. In 18% of the proliferative cells G₁ is at least 4 days long and 16% have a G₂ phase longer than 17 hr. The S phase is about 7.5 hr long and cells spend at least 21 hr in the basal layer before migrating into the differentiating cell region. The glands of mature female and immature mice are smaller than those of the mature male. They have fewer, smaller cells and a much lower labelling index.     

LABELLING OF DNA AND CELL DIVISION IN SO CALLED NON-DIVIDING TISSUES

Autoradiographs of adult mice killed at various times after injection of tritiated thymidine show significant numbers of labelled nuclei in organs in which mitoses are either very rare or completely absent. The proportion of labelled cells that divide was estimated from the decline in the number of grains per nucleus, the number of pairs of labelled cells in sheets of epithelium in squashes, the number of labelled metaphases after 6 hours' treatment with Colcemid, and the ratio of mitotic index to labelling index. The longest possible duration of G₂ in the epithelial cells of seminal vesicles was deduced from the results of Feulgen photometry. The results show that only a small proportion of the labelled cells divide in the seminal vesicles and liver, whilst probably none divide in brain, smooth muscle, and heart muscle. It is suggested that, in the so called "non-dividing tissues" of adult mice, cells periodically renew their DNA by a process the details of which are as yet unknown.     

LOCALIZATION OF CELL DIVISION ACTIVITY IN THE PRIMARY THICKENING MERISTEM IN ALLIUM CEPA L

Stems 1, 2, 3 months old of Allium cepa L. were labelled with tritiated thymidine, fixed in FAA, sectioned, stained with the Feulgen reaction, and prepared for autoradiography. The serial transverse sections were outlined with a camera lucida, recording labelled nuclei as dots. These drawings were used for 3-dimensional reconstructions of the locations of labelled nuclei. Near the top of the stem, labelled nuclei occur in a broad band, whereas they occur in narrower bands at successively lower levels in the stem, and finally labelled nuclei disappear. The locations of the labelled nuclei correspond to the location of the primary thickening meristem (PTM) in the stem of onion as determined by previous histological and histochemical observations. Microspectrophotometry was used to measure the relative amounts of DNA in Feulgen-stained nuclei of the PTM in serial transverse sections of 1- and 2-month-old onion stems. A bimodal distribution was obtained which can be explained by changes in DNA levels during the cell cycle. No evidence of polyploid nuclei was observed. One can conclude, therefore, that the PTM is the site of cell division activity during the primary stem thickening process in onion.     

THE KINETICS OF CELL PROLIFERATION IN THE TRACHEOBRONCHIAL EPITHELIA OF RATS WITH AND WITHOUT CHRONIC RESPIRATORY DISEASE

Labelling indices of the tracheobronchial epithelia of conventionally-derived rats with chronic respiratory disease (CRD) and minimal-disease rats without CRD have been determined. The duration of the DNA synthesis phase (t_s) computed from the percentage of mitoses labelled at various intervals of time after injection of tritiated thymidine was 7 hr: t_G2 was 3.5 hr. Using the measured value of t_s and the labelling indices, the mean turnover times of the tracheobronchial epithelia in three groups of six 5-week-old conventionally-derived rats were calculated to be 11.2, 14.6 and 22.4 days, while in similar groups of 5-week-old minimal-disease rats the turnover times were found to be 24.3, 36.5 and 41.6 days. The majority of cell divisions in the tracheobronchial epithelium of these minimal disease rats were probably required for growth rather than renewal. The mean turnover time of this tissue in 5-week-old Syrian hamsters was 73 days. The cells of the rat tracheobronchial epithelium have been classed as basal or superficial, depending on their shape and proximity to the basement membrane. The mean turnover time of the basal cells in 5-week-old minimal-disease rats was 11.7 days calculated from labelling indices. The migration method of Brown & Oliver (1968) gave a similar value for the basal cells in minimal-disease rats, and a value of 9.5 days for the basal cells in a group of conventionally-derived rats. The mean turnover time in the latter was only 5.4 days if two rats with tracheobronchitis were included. Consideration of the slow rate of fall in mean grain count over labelled cells at intervals of time after labelling and the calculated turnover times suggests that the proliferative fraction of the basal cell population is close to unity. Well-labelled cells were still present in both basal and superficial populations in the minimal-disease rats at 10 days after labelling. The marked effects of CRD on cell proliferation in this epithelium are emphasized and the significance of this in relation to published work is discussed.     

CHANGES IN THE PROLIFERATION RATE OF MOUSE EPIDERMIS AFTER IRRADIATION: CONTINUOUS LABELLING STUDIES

The proliferative response of mouse skin to damage caused by X-irradiation has been tested by giving repeated injections of tritiated thymidine and scoring the percentage of labelled cells in high resolution autoradiographs. Four, nine and fourteen daily fractions of 300 rads of X-rays were used and labelling commenced 4 days after the last fraction. The epidermis of the upper surface and the sole of the foot were scored separately and were compared with the skin of unirradiated feet. In unirradiated skin the proliferation rate of the basal layer cells is more rapid on the sole than on the upper surface. The cell cycle times deduced from continuous labelling curves were 81 hr and 111 hr respectively and the growth fractions were 97% and 85%. After irradiation with small daily doses the homeostatic response to cell killing was slow. More rapid proliferation occurred after nine fractions in the sole, but was not apparent in the skin of the upper surface until fourteen fractions had been given. After fourteen fractions the cell cycle time was about 24 hr on both surfaces and the growth fraction was about 90%. The initial labelling index after a single thymidine injection was a poor measure of proliferation rate. The delay in the time of onset of faster proliferation is similar, both qualitatively and quantitatively, to that measured previously from the additional dose increments needed if large doses were given at different times after the multifraction treatments (Denekamp, 1973).     

CELL PROLIFERATION IN WALKER TUMOUR GROWING IN THE STOMACH WALL

Tumour cells from a Walker carcinosarcoma 256 were implanted in the gastric mucosa in rats. The tumour grew and infiltrated the lamina propria and the submucosal space after 7 days. It appeared to grow faster in the submucosal space than in the lamina propria. The cell proliferation was therefore studied separately in: (1) the tumour in the lamina propria, (2) the main tumour mass and (3) the tumour periphery, defined as the cells located within the outer 100–120 μm of the tumour. Mitoses arrested with vinblastine, cells labelled with tritiated thymidine and the grain count per labelled cell were studied at the three different sites. The rate of cell proliferation in the tumour was highest in the lamina propria, lower in the centre of the main tumour mass, and lowest at the periphery. Cell loss might explain the discrepancy between the rate of cell proliferation and the actual tumour growth. The factors that influence tumour cell proliferation in the different parts of the tumour are discussed.     

CYTOTOXIC EFFECTS OF COLCEMID OR HIGH SPECIFIC ACTIVITY TRITIATED THYMIDINE ON CLONOGENIC CELL SURVIVAL IN B6CF1 MICE

High specific activity tritiated thymidine (HSA-[³H]TdR) and colcemid were given in cytotoxic doses and regimens to B6CF₁/Anl mice. The number of cells per intestinal crypt was reduced by the S-phase-specific HSA-[³H]TdR and the metaphase blocking and cytotoxic effect of multiple injections of colcemid. In 50-day old mice, the cytotoxic effect of multiple injections of colcemid reduced both the number of cells per crypt and the clonogenic cell survival. However, the number of surviving intestinal clonogenic or stem cells, assayed by the micro-colony technique, did not change in 110–130-day old mice. These data suggest that most of the cells at risk from these cytotoxic agents are not clonogenic in adult 110–130-day old mice but are the cells in amplification division. However, since the stem cells of young mice are more susceptible to colcemid, they are apparently in a more rapid cell cycle than those of older mice. The clonogenic cell survival measured in 110–130-day old mice after a single radiation dose of 14 Gy (1400 rad) responded in a non-linear way to increasing time of continuous colcemid cytotoxicity. These data suggest that the intestinal stem cells can respond to amplification compartment cell death by a shortening of their cell cycle and thus, over time, the number of stem cells at risk to colcemid cytotoxicity increases.     

CELL POPULATION KINETICS OF PLUCKED AND UNPLUCKED MOUSE SKIN I. UNIRRADIATED SKIN

A detailed study of the cellular proliferation kinetics in interfollicular plucked and unplucked mouse skin has been made in Swiss albino mice, using tritiated thymidine autoradiography. Diurnal variations in mitotic and labelling indices were demonstrated in both systems.
The mean cell cycle times for unplucked and plucked skin were estimated by four different methods and found to be 100 ± 10 and 47 ± 3 hr respectively. Most of the difference was due to the shortening of G₁ phase after plucking. Repeated labelling at intervals shorter than the DNA synthesis times resulted in all the basal layer cells becoming labelled, so that the growth fraction was unity, in unplucked and plucked skin.
A well-defined second wave of labelled mitoses was seen at about 100 hr after labelling the unplucked (i.e. normal) mouse skin.
A double labelling technique using ¹⁴C-TdR and ³H-TdR with a single layer of emulsion gave reasonable values for the duration of the DNA synthesis phase.     

RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN CELL CYCLE DURATION, S-PERIOD AND NUCLEAR DNA CONTENT IN ERYTHROBLASTS OF FOUR VERTEBRATE SPECIES

Erythroblasts of four vertebrate species (Triturus cristatus, Rana esculenta, Lacerta viridis and Gallus domesticus) differing markedly in their nuclear diploid DNA content, are used to study a possible relationship between cell cycle duration and DNA content. DNA is determined cytophotometrically and fluorometrically. The cell cycle is analysed by evaluating labelled mitoses after an injection of tritiated thymidine and also by double labelling with ¹⁴C- and ³H-thymidine. A direct but non-linear relationship is demonstrated between DNA content of erythroblast nuclei and the duration of DNA-synthesis.     

A COMPARISON OF METAPHASE ARRESTING AGENTS AND TRITIATED THYMIDINE AUTORADIOGRAPHY IN MEASUREMENT OF THE RATE OF ENTRY OF CELLS INTO MITOSIS IN THE CRYPTS OF LIEBERKÜHN OF THE RAT

Three methods of estimating cell production rate were used: the rate of accumulation of metaphases blocked by Colcemid, or by vinblastine, and the rate of increase of labelled nuclei after administration of tritiated thymidine. These rates were determined for three sites in the small intestine by counts made on whole micro-dissected crypts, fixed at various times after the administration of the agents.
Within the limits of error of the methods, the cell production rate per crypt was the same when measured by each method (35/hr), and showed a slight fall from the proximal to the distal end of the small intestine (36/hr to 33/hr). the advantages and limitations of each method are discussed.     

NATURAL VARIATION IN THE S-PHASE OF RENEWING EPITHELIA OF THE POUCHLESS OPOSSUM, MARMOSA MITIS

The sites of cell proliferation and the duration of the S-phases in epithelia (tongue, stomach, duodenum, jejunum, ileum and descending colon) of the pouchless opossum, Marmosamitis , have been studied following the injection of tritiated thymidine. the sites of cell proliferation in these epithelia are not significantly different than those reported for rodent tissues. On the other hand, measurements of the mean duration of DNA synthesis revealed great variability in this phase: tongue (12.8 hr), stomach (>14.0 hr), duodenum (8.5 hr), jejunum (8.6 hr), ileum (9.7 hr) and descending colon (11-3 hr). In addition, the values obtained for the mean duration of t₂ (G₂+₂/¹M) are fairly constant among the various epithelia. It is concluded that the times obtained for the average duration of the S-phases are longer and more variable in M. mitis than similar observations reported on renewing epithelia of eutherian mammals.     

THE REPLICATION TIME AND PATTERN OF THE LIVER CELL IN THE GROWING RAT

Three-week-old male rats of the Wistar strain were given tritiated thymidine, 1 µc/gm body weight, intraperitoneally and were killed at intervals from 0.25 to 72 hours later. Autoradiographs were made from 5 µ sections, stained by the Feulgen method. The replication time and its component intervals were determined from the scoring of the labeling of interphase nuclei as well as of prophase, metaphase, anaphase, and telophase nuclei. Absorption of the intraperitoneally injected label is rapid and is attended by "flash" labeling during interphase. The results show that at any one time about 4 per cent of the liver cells are synthesizing DNA preliminary to cell division. These cells alternate with waves of other cells and it is estimated that about 10 per cent of the liver cell population is engaged in cell duplication. The replication time is about 21.5 hours, and its component intervals occupy the following times: DNA synthesis, 9 hours; post-DNA synthesis gap, 0.50 hour; prophase, 1.3 hours; metaphase, 1.0 hour; anaphase, 0.4 hour; telophase, 0.3 hour; postmitosis gap, 9.0 hours. A group of liver cells has been recorded in at least 3 successive replication cycles.     

CELL POPULATION KINETICS OF AN OSTEOGENIC TISSUE · II

A study of the cell kinetics on the actively growing periosteal surface of the femur of rabbits aged 2 weeks has been continued. A single injection of tritiated thymidine was given and the rabbits killed from 1 hour to 4 days after injection. The grain count spectra of the different cell types, pre-osteoblast, osteoblast, and osteocyte, have been compared at different times after injection. The results showed evidence for the uptake of thymidine in nuclei which is not associated with cell division. A small percentage of osteoblasts was initially labeled at 1 hour and there was evidence that the majority of these had not divided by 3 or 4 days after injection. Some thymidine-labeled cells had also become osteocytes without division. Furthermore, it appeared that a considerable fraction of the initially labeled pre-osteoblasts did not divide. The S period for the pre-osteoblasts and osteoblasts was measured using a double-labeled thymidine technique.     

THE CELL POPULATION KINETICS OF NEUTROPHILIC CELLS

Autoradiographic data for the entry of tritiated thymidine labelled cells into the post-proliferative neutrophilic cell compartments following a single injection of isotope have been analysed in terms of two cell kinetic models which differ in the assumed relationships between cell maturation and division. Comparisons with the experimental data were made in an attempt to assess the validities of the models, and kinetic parameters for the compartments of recognizable neutrophilic cells were estimated. Control mechanisms which have been proposed for the granulocyte system are discussed in terms of the kinetic models which were chosen in their determination. Although it was not possible to make a clear choice between the proposed models, preference was established for a random model which did not involve cell loss.     

EXISTENCE OF AN ENDOGENOUS INHIBITOR OF DNA SYNTHESIS IN RABBIT SMALL INTESTINE SPECIFICALLY EFFECTIVE ON CELL PROLIFERATION IN ADULT MOUSE INTESTINE

Aqueous extracts from rabbit organs were prepared by homogenization and centrifugation at 105,000 g . After precipitation with ammonium sulphate, the 0–50 fraction was separated by ultrafiltration through Amicon XM 100 and XM 300 membranes yielding two filtrate fractions (U₁ and U₂) and one retentate fraction (U₃). Only U₁ and U₃ inhibited thymidine incorporation into DNA. After a single injection of U₁ from rabbit small intestine, the uptake of tritiated thymidine was decreased in mouse jejunal and colonic DNA. This effect, totally reversible after 7 hr, was found in neither the kidney nor the testis. The U₁ fractions of colon and non-digestive organs (kidney, testis) were found not to exert a significant inhibition on thymidine incorporation into intestinal DNA in vivo. The U₃ fraction from rabbit small intestine also decreased the uptake of tritiated thymidine in mouse jejunal and colonic DNA in vivo. However, this inhibition was irreversible and not tissue-specific. Slowing of cell migration was also noticed in the jejunum of mice injected with U₁ or U₃, as ascertained radioautographically by determining the position of the leading edge of the labelled cells in U₁- or U₃-injected mice compared with controls. A decrease of mitotic activity in U₁- and U₃-injected mice was recorded 8·5 hr after a single injection of small intestinal fractions. Our results suggest that U₁ and U₃ from rabbit small intestine contain one or more substances which may act on the G₁—S transition of the cell cycle in the mouse intestine. However, only the effect of U₁ is reversible and tissue specific. Our data suggest the existence of a factor, having a low molecular weight, which regulates intestinal cell proliferation.     

STABILITY OF DNA IN PURKINJE CELL NUCLEI OF THE MOUSE : An Autoradiographic Study

Neurons of the mouse were labeled with [³H]thymidine during their prenatal period of proliferation. The ³H activity of the Purkinje cell nuclei was then studied autoradiographically 8, 25, 55, and 90 days after birth. The measured grain number per nucleus decreased by about 14% between the 8th and 25th postnatal days and then remained constant up to 90 days. There was no significant decrease of the ³H activity of the Purkinje cell nuclei after correction of the measured grain number per nucleus for increasing nuclear volume of the growing Purkinje cells and for the influence of [³H]β self-absorption in the material of the sections. Injection of a high dose of [³H]thymidine into young adult mice did not result in ³H labeling of either Purkinje or other neurons in other brain regions. The results agree with the concept of metabolic stability of nuclear DNA. "Metabolic" DNA could not be observed in these experiments.     

THE TEMPORAL SCHEDULE OF DNA SYNTHESIS AND CELL DIFFERENTIATION

The temporal schedule of DNA synthesis in cells of developing and adult mice is analysed by means of Feulgen cytofluorometry combined with tritiated thymidine autoradiography. The results obtained with cells taken from liver, esophageal epithelium and mucosae of gastrointestinal tracts seemed to conform to the hypothesis that a cell at a particular state of cytodifferentiation possesses specifically inactivated sets of late replicating genes showing a specific pattern of the temporal schedule of DNA synthesis.     

DURATION OF PREMEIOTIC DEOXYRIBONUCLEIC ACID SYNTHESIS AND THE STAGES OF PROPHASE I IN RABBIT OOCYTES

To estimate the duration of oocyte DNA synthesis 36, 3-day-old female rabbits received 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, or 18 injections of tritiated thymidine (thy-³H) at hourly intervals. The ovaries, removed at 1, 10, or 20 days after the first injection, were radioautographed. Counts made of the number of silver grains associated with oocyte nuclei in meiotic Prophase I indicate that the duration of DNA synthesis is between 9 and 12 hr. To determine the length of the stages of meiotic Prophase I, a group of 2-3-day-old rabbits was given a single sub-cutaneous injection of thy-³H, and the ovaries were removed at hourly and/or daily intervals after treatment. The minimum duration of leptotene was 3 hr and the maximum duration probably was less than 8 hr. The maximum durations of zygotene, pachytene, and diplotene were estimated to be 44, 216, and 96 hr, respectively. The interval from the end of oogonial DNA synthesis to the beginning ofpremeiotic DNA synthesis (G₂ + Mitosis + G₁) appeared to be less than 6 hr.     

SPERMATOGONIAL CHALONE(S): EFFECT ON THE PHASES OF THE CELL CYCLE OF TYPE A SPERMATOGONIA IN THE RAT

Adult rats with X-irradiated testes were used to analyze the effect of the spermatogonial chalone(s) on the phases of the cell cycle of type A spermatogonia. Twelve days after irradiation, the animals were used in two experiments designed to test the existence of hypothetical G₂ and S phase chalones. For the G₂ assay, rats injected twice with testicular extract (Group I), liver extract (Group II) or physiological saline (Group III) were killed 10 hr after the initial injection. Mitoses of type A, Intermediate and type B spermatogonia were counted in whole mounts of dissected seminiferous tubules. To test for an S phase inhibitor, two groups of rats were given multiple injections of either testicular extract (Group IV) or saline solution (Group V). Twenty-two hr after the first injection they were injected with [³H]thymidine and killed 2 hr later. Silver grains over labelled type A nuclei were counted in radioautographed sections of testes from these animals. The average grain counts were identical in Groups IV and V, indicating that the testicular extract did not affect type A spermatogonia during the S phase. Counts of type A mitoses in Groups I, II and III revealed that in the animals injected with the testicular extract (Group I) the number of divisions was 50% lower than in the control groups (Groups II and III). In contrast, mitotic activity of differentiating spermatogonia (In + B) was similar in all three groups of animals. This result is attributed to a testicular chalone which specifically inhibits type A spermatogonia during the G₂ phase of the cell cycle. Indirect evidence for a G₁ spermatogonial chalone is also presented, as a result of an analysis of published data (Clermont & Mauger, 1974).