Slowly cycling (label-retaining) epidermal cells behave like clonogenic stem cells in vitro

Abstract. Slowly cycling label-retaining epidermal cells were identified by light microscopic autoradiography in the dorsal epidermis and hair follicles of adult mice 8–10 weeks after twice daily injection of [³H]dT on days three through five after birth. Pulse-labelled epidermal cells were identified in the epidermis and hair follicles of 7–8 week old mice 1 h after a single injection of [³H]dT at 8.00 a.m. For mice of both groups, epidermal cells including those from the hair follicles were harvested by trypsinization and were cultured from low density on feeder layers of irradiated Swiss mouse 3T3. On days 2, 4, 5, 7, 10 and 12, the cultures were fixed and processed for light microscopic autoradiography, and the distribution of labelled nuclei was quantified. On day 2 of culture, both label-retaining cells (LRC) and pulse labelled cells (PLC) were found primarily as single cells. After five days, LRC were found as pairs and clusters having silver grain counts consistent with their division. In contrast, PLC remained primarily as single cells. These results suggest that LRC may divide to form colonies (are clonogenic) whereas PLC are rarely clonogenic. The significance of this experiment is that it suggests that the LRC may not only be persistent in the epidermis, but that they may also be cells with relatively greater proliferative potential than the PLC and are thus likely to be stem cells.     

The Proliferative Status of Microcolony-Forming Cells In Mouse Small Intestine

Abstract The technique of thymidine (TdR) suicide has been used with the intestinal microcolony assay to demonstrate that in the middle of the light cycle, nearly all intestinal clonogenic cells, in the B6D2F₁ mice used in these experiments, were not in S phase. Doses of tritiated thymidine [³H]TdR up to 1 mCi/mouse did not kill a significant fraction of those clonogenic cells which survived a test dose of 12 Gy γ-rays. This finding supports some data in the literature, but conflicts with others. However, the suicide technique was found in the studies reported here to be very efficient in sterilizing clonogenic cells in the middle of the dark cycle, and also in a regenerating epithelium at day 3 after a dose of 9 Gy. This implies that the technique can discriminate well between populations of clonogenic cells which differ in their content of cells in S phase. the lack of a suicide effect in the middle of the light cycle indicates that the majority of proliferative epithelial cells are not clonogenic.     

Stem cells: attributes, cycles, spirals, pitfalls and uncertainties. Lessons for and from the crypt

We consider some of the problems involved in current discussions on stem cells in adult mammalian tissues. The present concepts involve a number of pitfalls, weaknesses and logical, semantic and classification problems. This indicates the necessity for new and well-defined concepts that are amenable to experimental analysis. One of the major difficulties in considering stem cells is that they are defined in terms of their functional capabilities which can only be assessed by testing the abilities of the cells, which itself may alter their characteristics during the assay procedure: a situation similar to the uncertainty principle in physics. The terms that describe stem cell functions are often not well defined and are used loosely, which can lead to confusion. If such context-dependent interactions exist between the manipulation and measurement process and the challenged stem cells, the question of, for example, the number of stem cells, in a tissue has to be posed in a new way. Rather than obtaining a single number one might end up with various different numbers under different circumstances, all being complementary. This might suggest that stemness is not a property but a spectrum of capabilities from which to choose. This concept might facilitate a reconciliation between the different and sometimes opposing experimental results. Given certain experimental evidence, we have attempted to provide a novel concept to describe structured cell populations in tissues involving stem cells, transit cells and mature cells. It is based on the primary assumption that the proliferation and differentiation/maturation processes are in principle independent entities in the sense that each may proceed without necessarily affecting the other. Stem cells may divide without maturation while cells approaching functional competence may mature but do not divide. In contrast, transit cells divide and mature showing intermediate properties between stem cells and mature functional cells. The need to describe this transition process and the variable coupling between proliferation and maturation leads us to formulate a spiral model of cell and tissue organisation. This concept is illustrated for the intestinal epithelium. It is concluded that the small intestinal crypts contain 4-16 actual stem cells in steady state but up to 30-40 potential stem cells (clonogenic cells) which may take over stem cell properties following perturbations. This implies that transit cells can under certain circumstances behave like actual stem cells while they undergo maturation under other conditions. There is also evidence that the proliferation and differentiation/maturation processes are subject to controls that ultimately lead to a change in the spiral trajectories.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)     

THE EPIDERMAL PROLIFERATIVE UNIT: THE POSSIBLE ROLE OF THE CENTRAL BASAL CELL

A model is suggested for the organization of the epidermis based on the ordered structure of the differentiating layers, as demonstrated by published work. This ordered structure enables one to look through the epidermis at the basal cell nuclei and to see their arrangement beneath the differentiating column of cells. In dorsal skin from male DBA-2 mice there are 10.6 basal nuclei beneath a column of cells. The central nucleus of the group responds slightly earlier and more effectively than the rest to stimulation, is cycling more slowly than the majority of the basal nuclei and may spend significant periods of time out of cycle. The skin appears to contain a series of fairly independent proliferative units, each of which contain ten or eleven basal nuclei and eight to ten superficial cells of which only the youngest one or two retain their nuclei. At the centre of each group of basal nuclei is a cell that behaves differently from the rest and which is present in the skin in numbers compatible with the number of clonogenic cells. It is suggested that this represents the basic stem cell of the unit.     

3H-Thymidine labelling index (TLI) as a marker of tumour growth heterogeneity: evaluation in human solid carcinomas

Many studies deal with the analysis of cell kinetic, cytogenetic, biochemical and molecular cell biology parameters to identify prognostic factors relating to tumour growth but all methods use only a small part of the total tumour mass. This study is devoted to the analysis of the heterogeneity of the growth of human solid tumours assaying proliferative activity by means of 3H-thymidine labelling index (TLI) in a fixed number of samples collected in different areas of the lesion (larynx and colon cancers), or in different lesions of the same subject (breast and bladder cancers). Each sample (at the macroscopic level) was divided into small fragments (at the microscopic level) and proliferative activity was determined. The analysis of variance for hierarchical designs demonstrated that in all cases a high component of the variance is attributable to the subjects and to the fragments whereas the variance attributable to the different areas is very low. The heterogeneity of proliferative activity displays a higher focal variability among the fragments (microscopic level) compared with that among areas (macroscopic level) within subjects, provided an adequate number of fragments and cells are counted. In multiple synchronous carcinoma of the bladder the wide variability of proliferation among the single lesions demonstrated that it is necessary to analyse all the tumours in a subject because each one is characterized by a different cell growth potential.     

CONTINUOUS LABELLING STUDIES ON MOUSE SKIN AND INTESTINE

Data are presented for changes in absolute radioactivity levels and labelling indices (LI) in three tissues: jejunum, colon and dorsal skin in the mouse during conditions of repeated (every 3 hr for 168 hr) ³H-TdR (5 μCi) injections. The lengths of S and the cell cycle were estimated. The crypt and mucosal transit times were evaluated. There is a slowly cycling subpopulation in the crypt which may be the goblet cell precursors or a crypt stem cell population. The skin LI data cannot be fitted by a single straight line and the procedure of continuously handling or injecting the animals appears to result in a disturbance of the steady state. The liquid scintillation data for all samples showed some consistent and surprisingly large fluctuations and a clear deviation from linear uptake with increasing time.     

Cell Migration Velocities In the Crypts of the Small Intestine After Cytotoxic Insult Are Not Dependent On Mitotic Activity

Abstract. The role of mitotic activity in the normal process of intestinal epithelial cell migration was investigated. the movement of [³H]TdR-labelled cells in the crypt-villus column was used to study migration both in the crypts and on the villi. Radiation alone or in conjunction with other cytotoxic agents (hydroxyurea, cyclophosphamide and isopropyl-methane sulphonate) was used to eliminate cell division activity and to decrease crypt cellularity. This was done in order to determine the role of 'mitotic pressure' in driving cell migration.
It has been clearly demonstrated in this study that cell migration, both within the crypts and on the villi, can take place in the complete absence of mitotic activity and after a drastic decrease in crypt cellularity. These results add to the continually mounting evidence against the idea that the 'pressure' generated by mitoses within the crypt or indeed in other epithelial regions is responsible for propelling epithelial cells. the data also demonstrate that the migration mechanisms are resistant to cytotoxic exposure.     

Polyploidy In the Murine Colonic Pericryptal Fibroblast Sheath

The cause of the apparently paradoxical occurrence of relatively high levels of labelling and low levels of mitotic activity in the pericryptal fibroblast sheath (PCFS) was investigated. Analysis of the distribution of grain densities over epithelial cells and the PCFS in the colon demonstrated that, although the former had a unimodal peak, the PCFS had a multi-peak distribution. the PCFS nuclei with the higher grain densities gradually disappeared with time, due not to proliferation but to lateral migration into the lamina propria. Photodensitometric analysis confirmed the existence of polyploid cells in the colonic PCFS, but not in the epithelium.     

Proliferative changes in the genital tissue of female mice during the oestrous cycle

Changes in proliferation and number of epithelial cells of the murine genital tract, during the oestrous cycle, have been studied. A total of 47 animals in the prooestrous, metoestrous and dioestrous phases of the cycle were staged retrospectively on the basis of the genital tract histology. The average duration of the oestrous cycle in these animals was 4 days, and half of this period was occupied by the prooestrous/oestrous phases. Significant cycles of growth were observed in the luminal uterine epithelium and in the basal epithelium of the cervix-vagina. Most of this growth occurred during the pro-oestrous phase, which lasted approximately 1 day. During this time the numbers of luminal epithelial cells in the uterus and suprabasal cells in the cervix-vagina increased 2-3 fold. This pattern of growth appeared partly synchronous and corresponded to the period when serum oestrogen levels are at their highest. A corresponding and rapid reduction in the numbers of uterine luminal epithelial cells and suprabasal cells in the cervix and vagina was noted during the early metoestrous phase; and this occured during the period when serum oestrogens are at their lowest levels. No significant periodicity in the proliferation and numbers of the uterine gland epithelial cells was noted during the cycle. The kinetic role and function of the gland cells is discussed in relation to these data.     

Inhibition of UV radiation-induced DNA damage by a 5-methoxypsoralen tan in human skin

Previously untanned buttock skin of 4 volunteers (skin type II; tan with difficulty as they sunburn easily) was treated with various sunscreen preparations and solar--simulated radiation (SSR) or SSR alone for 2 weeks. One week later, the treatment sites were challenged with a DNA-damaging dose of SSR--twice the minimal erythema dose (2 MED). Skin biopsy samples were assayed for the levels of unscheduled DNA synthesis (a measure of DNA damage), melanin distribution, and skin thickening. 5-Methoxypsoralen-containing sunscreen preparations plus SSR or SSR alone induced melanogenesis and increased the stratum corneum thickness, but only the former regimen afforded a high degree of protection against subsequent SSR-induced DNA damage. 5-Methoxypsoralen-free sunscreen preparations plus SSR induced negligible tanning, skin thickening, and photoprotection. These findings are relevant to the risk-benefit analysis of sunscreen preparations, especially in skin type II, as they provide evidence that a 5-methoxypsoralen-induced tan is protective against the DNA-damaging effects of solar UV radiation, and thus has the potential to reduce the carcinogenic risk of exposure to such radiation.