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Showing papers in "Cell Proliferation in 1984"


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A new method of analysis utilizing a monoclonal antibody to bromodeoxyuridine (BrdUrd) has been developed which makes it possible in most cases to accurately determine phase fractions without resorting to mathematical models.
Abstract: The flow cytometric measurement of DNA distributions of cells has many applications in biomedical research. Phase fractions estimated (calculated) from such distributions are used to study the growth characteristics of various types of cells, particularly when the cells have been exposed to perturbing agents such as chemotherapeutic drugs. For more than 10 years many methods for resolving DNA distributions into the three cell subpopulations (G1, S and G2 + M) have been reported in the literature. A new method of analysis utilizing a monoclonal antibody to bromodeoxyuridine (BrdUrd) has been developed (Gratzner, 1982; Dolbeare et al., 1983) which makes it possible in most cases to accurately determine phase fractions without resorting to mathematical models. The procedure involves the incorporation of BrdUrd by growing (DNA synthesizing) S phase cells, labelling the BrdUrd with a fluorescent monoclonal antibody, and the bivariate measurement of the antibody and of total DNA content, the latter through propidium-iodide staining. The resulting bivariate distributions clearly and simply resolve the three subpopulations. This paper describes the method and illustrates its use in the analysis of various fractions of elutriated exponentially growing Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells.

206 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It was ascertained that no ‘autoradiographically’ detectable reutilization of label occurred and that transferred cells showed undisturbed kinetics and the results imply that peritoneal macrophages represent a homogeneous population in respect to their cellular origin.
Abstract: To elucidate the origin and renewal kinetics of peritoneal macrophages, as a typical example of the mononuclear phagocytic system, syngeneic rats were treated with tritiated thymidine [3H]TdR and leucocytes were transferred to unlabelled recipients over a bilateral arteriovenous shunt. Labelled and unlabelled monocytes were evenly distributed in both animals as shown by autoradiography. It was ascertained that no 'autoradiographically' detectable reutilization of label occurred and that transferred cells showed undisturbed kinetics. The results imply: resident peritoneal macrophages derive from blood monocytes; peritoneal macrophages represent a homogeneous population in respect to their cellular origin; blood monocytes as a myelogenous cell line do not represent a generative end cell. They migrate into the tissue (peritoneal cavity) and differentiate into resident macrophages, undergoing on average one mitosis per cell during a period of approximately 7 days. resident peritoneal macrophages are derived 50% from blood monocytes and 50% from division in situ; and under steady-state conditions the renewal rate amounts to 0.18%/h, which yields a half-life time of 16 days and a renewal time of 23 days.

66 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: These quiescent tumour cells provide a relatively simple model to evaluate what, if any, important differences exist between the response of P v. Q cells to various therapeutic agents.
Abstract: Three mouse mammary tumour lines (66, 67, and 68H) derived from a single mouse mammary tumour were investigated for their growth kinetics and development of quiescent cells in unfed monolayer cultures. All three lines develop pure quiescent populations when grown in unfed plateau cultures. A dramatic cell-cycle redistribution accompanied the proliferating (P) to quiescent (Q) transition, with the percentage of cells having a G1 DNA content increasing from 50% in the P state to greater than 97% in the Q state. As the cultures progressed from exponential to plateau growth, a decrease of greater than or equal to 50% in cellular RNA was observed in all three lines. This property enables the clear identification of P v. Q cells by flow cytometry using the two-step acridine orange assay. Autoradiographic data verified that these plateau cells were quiescent since less than 2.5% of the cells incorporated [3H]TdR when labelled for approximately two doubling times. Further comparison of the P and Q cells showed that: (a) the Coulter volume of Q cells was approximately half that of P cells in all three lines; (b) viability, as measured by dye exclusion was greater than 95% in all cultures regardless of their proliferative state; and (c) colony-forming ability decreased as the cells entered the quiescent state. In each of these cell lines the development of Q-cell populations was marked by similar changes in all measured parameters. These quiescent tumour cells provide a relatively simple model to evaluate what, if any, important differences exist between the response of P v. Q cells to various therapeutic agents.

56 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The ability of a Q cell to form a colony is not determined solely by its capacity to re‐enter the proliferating compartment, and clonogenicity of the nutrient‐deprived Q cells in these lines decreases exponentially from time the cells enter quiescence.
Abstract: The development of a pure quiescent (Q) tumour cell population can be induced in three mouse mammary tumour lines (66, 67 and 68H) by nutrient deprivation. When these Q cells were removed from nutrient-deprived cultures and replated in fresh medium at a lower cell concentration within 72 hr of entering quiescence virtually all of the Q cells could re-enter the proliferating (P) state. This recruitment was characterized by an increase in cell volume, an increase in total cellular RNA, and a resumption of cell division. The length of the Q to P transition varied among the three cell lines and the depth of the quiescent state depended on the amount of time the cells had been quiescent. Once re-entry into the P compartment was completed, cell-cycle times, as estimated by the culture doubling time, were the same as the cells that had not entered the Q state, however, after 72 hr in quiescence, not all of the 66 cells could reattach after trypsinization and of those that could reattach approximately equal to 50% were incapable of either increasing their RNA levels to that of proliferating G1 cells or entering S. Clonogenicity of the nutrient-deprived Q cells in these lines decreases exponentially from time the cells enter quiescence with approximate half-times of 32, 34, and 96 hr for the 66, 68H and 67 cells, respectively. Since clonogenicity was already declining at a time when all the Q cells could re-enter the P compartment, the ability of a Q cell to form a colony is not determined solely by its capacity to re-enter the proliferating compartment.

52 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It was concluded that, either alone or in combination with blocking agents such as hydroxyurea, elutriation and mitotic selection were both excellent methods for synchronizing CHO cells.
Abstract: Selected cell synchrony techniques, as applied to asynchronous populations of Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells, have been compared Aliquots from the same culture of exponentially growing cells were synchronized using mitotic selection, mitotic selection and hydroxyurea block, centrifugal elutriation, or an EPICS V cell sorter Sorting of cells was achieved after staining cells with Hoechst 33258 After synchronization by the various methods the relative distribution of cells in G1, S, or G2 + M phases of the cell cycle was determined by flow cytometry Fractions of synchronized cells obtained from each method were replated and allowed to progress through a second cell cycle Mitotic selection gave rise to relatively pure and unperturbed early G1 phase cells While cell synchrony rapidly dispersed with time, cells progressed through the cell cycle in 12 hr Sorting with the EPICS V on the modal G1 peak yielded a relatively pure but heterogeneous G1 population (ie early to late G1) Again, synchrony dispersed with time, but cell-cycle progression required 14 hr With centrifugal elutriation, several different cell populations synchronized throughout the cell cycle could be rapidly obtained with a purity comparable to mitotic selection and cell sorting It was concluded that, either alone or in combination with blocking agents such as hydroxyurea, elutriation and mitotic selection were both excellent methods for synchronizing CHO cells Cell sorting exhibited limitations in sample size and time required for synchronizing CHO cells Its major advantage would be its ability to isolate cell populations unique with respect to selected cellular parameters

44 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This finding indicates that the vascular density is among the factors which are decisive for the growth rate of tumours, however, the present work does not exclude the possibility that intrinsic properties of the tumour cells may also be important.
Abstract: The growth and the vascular structure of five human melanomas grown in athymic nude mice were studied. Four growth parameters (tumour volume doubling time, fraction of cells in S-phase, growth fraction, cell-loss factor) were analysed against each of four vascular parameters (length of vessels with diameters in the range 5–15 μm, total vessel length, total vessel surface, total vessel volume-all per unit of histologically intact tumour volume). Statistically significant linear correlations between the parameters were found for any of the combinations. However, there was a consistent trend in the data: the tumour volume doubling time and the cell-loss factor tended to decrease while the fraction of cells in S-phase and the growth fraction tended to increase with increasing vascular density, whichever vascular parameter was considered. This finding indicates that the vascular density is among the factors which are decisive for the growth rate of tumours. However, the present work does not exclude the possibility that intrinsic properties of the tumour cells may also be important.

41 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Evidence has been presented supporting the existence of heterogeneity in cell‐cycle progression in mouse epidermis, and the present study was undertaken to characterize this heterogeneity in more detail.
Abstract: Evidence has been presented supporting the existence of heterogeneity in cell-cycle progression in mouse epidermis, the present study was undertaken to characterize this heterogeneity in more detail. Hairless mice were continuously labelled with tritiated thymidine every 4 hr for 4 days. Basal cell suspensions were prepared from slices of mouse skin at intervals during the experiment and subjected to DNA flow cytometry. Cell-cycle analysis was combined with sorting of cells from windows in G1, S and G2, phase, and the proportion of labelled cells within each window was determined in autoradiographs. Reanalysis and resorting to control the purity of sorted fractions were performed. Computer simulations of the data were made using a mathematical model assuming different S and G2 phase characteristics. A good fit to the data was only obtained when heterogeneity in mouse epidermal cell-cycle progression was assumed, indicating the existence of slowly traversing, distinct subpopulations of cells in G2 and S phase. These cells are assumed to contribute to about 40% of all cells in S phase and to about 70% of all in G2 phase. the estimated residence times in the resting states were 38 and 32 hr in S and G2 phase, respectively. Two-parameter sorting based on DNA and light scatter indicated that slowly cycling cells were larger than the average. There is no evidence of significant subpopulations of permanently non-proliferating keratinocytes in any of the cell-cycle phases.

33 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Nocodazole, a temporary inhibitor of microtubule formation, has been used to partly synchronize Ehrlich ascites tumour cells growing in suspension to partially synchronize an asynchronous population growing in the presence of the drug.
Abstract: Nocodazole, a temporary inhibitor of microtubule formation, has been used to partly synchronize Ehrlich ascites tumour cells growing in suspension. The gradual entry of cells into mitosis and into the next cell cycle without division during drug treatment has been studied by flow cytometric determination of mitotic cells, analysing red and green fluorescence after low pH treatment and acridine orange staining. Determination of the mitotic index (MI) by this method has been combined with DNA distribution analysis to measure cell-cycle phase durations in asynchronous populations growing in the presence of the drug. With synchronized cells, it was shown that in the concentration range 0.4-4.0 micrograms/l, cells could only be arrested in mitosis for about 7 hr and at 0.04 microgram/ml, for about 5 hr. After these time intervals, the DNA content in nocodazole-blocked cells was found to be increased, and, in parallel, the ratio of red and green fluorescence was found to have changed, showing entry of cells into a next cell cycle without division (polyploidization). It was therefore only possible to partially synchronize an asynchronous population by nocodazole. However, a presynchronized population, e.g. selected G1 cells or metabolically blocked G1/S cells, were readily and without harmful effect resynchronized in M phase by a short treatment (0.4 microgram/ml, 3-4 hr) with nocodazole; after removal of the drug, cells divided and progressed in a highly synchronized fashion through the next cell cycle.

31 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Observations are compatible with the hypothesis that the primary effects of gastrin and pentagastrin on the proximal intestine are as secretogogues and effects on cell proliferation may be secondary, and gastrin at physiological levels do not stimulate small intestinal cell proliferation, however glucagon does.
Abstract: The effects of six injections of a range of doses (100-1000 micrograms/kg bodyweight) of pentagrastrin and single injection of a range of doses of porcine gastrin (10-40 micrograms/kg bodyweight) and pancreatic glucagon (25-100 micrograms/kg bodyweight) on cell proliferation in the intestine of fasted rats has been investigated. The end-point employed included the measurement of 14C leucine incorporation and thymidine-derived tritium content of the body of the stomach, duodenum, jejunum, ileum and colon. The carbon 14 and tritium content per microgram of tissue in triplicate samples of fifty individually dissected crypts of glands were determined. From these data and the wet weight of the washed, blotted, intestinal segments, values for crypts/micrograms tissue and crypts/segment were calculated. The results demonstrated that pentagastrin at physiological doses decreased cell proliferation slightly in stomach, while gastrin and glucagon were without effect. In the small intestine, pentagastrin and gastrin were without significant effect with the exception that they increased the weight of the duodenum. In contrast, a high physiological dose of glucagon increased DNA and protein synthesis throughout the small bowel, but particularly in the ileum. Pharmacological doses of pentagastrin and all doses of gastrin appeared to increase cell proliferation in the colon although the possibility could not be excluded that this was due to stimulation of precursor uptake. Gastrin also increased colonic weight. Glucagon had no effects in the colon. These observations are compatible with the hypothesis that (i) the primary effects of gastrin and pentagastrin on the proximal intestine are as secretogogues and effects on cell proliferation may be secondary, (ii) gastrin and pentagastrin at physiological levels do not stimulate small intestinal cell proliferation, however glucagon does, and (iii) gastrin at physiological levels and pentagastrin at pharmacological levels may stimulate cell proliferation in the colon.

27 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Aqueous acetic acid was used to fix and store specimens of tissue prior to dissociation into nuclear suspensions for flow cytometric quantitation of DNA, and nuclei fluoresced brightly after staining with propidium iodide, and yielded histograms similar to those from unfixed samples.
Abstract: Aqueous acetic acid was used to fix and store specimens of tissue prior to dissociation into nuclear suspensions for flow cytometric quantitation of DNA. The optimum concentration was 20 volumes of glacial acetic acid in 80 volumes of distilled water. Both neoplastic and benign nuclei were easily released from the fixed tissue blocks by slicing and shaking. Residual undissociated tissue was suitable for microscopic examination to confirm its identity. The nuclei fluoresced brightly after staining with propidium iodide, and yielded histograms similar to those from unfixed samples. Acetic-acid fixation resulted in slightly broader G1 and G0 peaks in the DNA histograms in comparison to unfixed cells, but fluorescent debris was less and correlation between the flow cytometric S-phase fraction (SPF) and in vitro thymidine labelling index (TLI) was better than with unfixed cells. Twenty-one of thirty-nine acetic-acid-fixed breast carcinomas had DNA indices in excess of 1.0 (increased nuclear DNA content in comparison to benign cells), and eighteen had DNA indices of 1.0 (normal or near-normal). The SPF was usually in excess of the TLI, but the two were significantly correlated (r = 0.72, P less than 0.0001). However, a significant correlation of SPF with TLI held only for the group with DNA index greater than 1.0. DNA indices greater than 1.0 were associated with high SPF and TLI, and high SPF and TLI each associated with low content of estrogen receptor.

25 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It is concluded that mammalian cell growth in culture is predominantly non‐exponential, and that the apparent exponentiality of semilogarithmic data plots is usually a methodological artifact.
Abstract: The concept of exponential growth by mammalian cells in culture is based upon the apparent linearity of semilogarithmic data plots. This method of graphical analysis is known to be an unreliable test of the exponential hypothesis. We have re-examined the question of growth exponentiality using the more sensitive method of Smith plots, in which specific growth rate is plotted against either time or density on transformed graphical coordinates which linearize the mathematical expression of the growth hypothesis being tested. With exponential growth, data points fall on a horizontal straight line when specific growth rate is plotted against time or density. Using both our own and literature data, we have performed Smith plot analyses on the growth of 125 different mammalian and avian cell lines. of these, only eleven exhibited an exponential phase. the remaining cell lines all had non-exponential growth patterns. the most common of these consisted of an initial period of growth acceleration followed by a later phase of deceleratory growth. A smaller number of lines exhibited deceleratory kinetics at all times after plating. We conclude that mammalian cell growth in culture is predominantly non-exponential, and that the apparent exponentiality of semilogarithmic data plots is usually a methodological artifact.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Exogenous colony formation is lower in the low dose‐rate, γ‐irradiated recipients and this is shown to be due to a reduced spleen‐seeding efficiency.
Abstract: Over the last 15 years, endogenous spleen-colony formation in our mice, following lethal irradiation, has increased to an unacceptable level. It has been found necessary, therefore, to introduce a new method of preparing recipient mice for spleen-colony studies. Irradiation with low dose-rate 60Cobalt gamma rays has been compared with high dose-rate linear accelerator electrons, and their effects on endogenous spleen colony formation compared with earlier X and gamma ray dose-response data. It was found that a large dose (13.5 Gy) of gamma rays results in fewer endogenous colonies than 8.5 Gy of electrons, yet because of its low dose rate (14.1 X 10(-3) Gy/min) it has a marked sparing of the intestinal tissue as measured by the intestinal microcolony technique. This in turn permits better survival and, therefore, a 'healthier' animal for spleen-colony work. Exogenous colony formation is also lower in the low dose-rate, gamma-irradiated recipients and this is shown to be due to a reduced spleen-seeding efficiency. It is concluded that very low dose-rate radiation is preferable for haemopoietic ablation, that a mouse colony requires constant monitoring for changes of endogenous spleen-colony formation and that the spleen-seeding efficiency of CFU-s depends on the irradiation technique used--there is no absolute value for a given strain of mouse.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The growth of cell numbers in a normal embryonic population of ncural retinal cells is described and the variances of the In numbers of cells were highest during the exponential phase and were at their lowest during the end phase.
Abstract: The growth of cell numbers in a normal embryonic population of neural retinal cells is described. The numbers were estimated from a time shortly after the neural retina first becomes recognizable to a time when numbers of retinal cells have become steady. Cell numbers were estimated in preparations of an entire neural retina dispersed into a suspension of single nuclei which were then counted in a Coulter counter. The growth curve of the ln numbers of cells has three phases of growth: an exponential phase during which there is steady-state exponential growth, a differentiative phase during which cell proliferation ceases and an end phase when no further change in cell numbers can be detected. The variances of the ln numbers of cells were highest during the exponential phase. The variances decreased during the differentiative phase and were at their lowest during the end phase. For variances to decrease requires mechanisms which control the final numbers of cells in the neural retina very precisely. The implications of mechanisms which operate by controlling cell lineages are explored.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: When Chinese hamster (CHO‐K1) cells are grown as monolayer cultures, they eventually reach a population‐density plateau after which no net increase in cell numbers occurs, and the kinetics of aged cells in nutritionally deprived or density‐inhibited cultures were studied.
Abstract: When Chinese hamster (CHO-K1) cells are grown as monolayer cultures, they eventually reach a population-density plateau after which no net increase in cell numbers occurs. The kinetics of aged cells in nutritionally deprived (starved) or density-inhibited (fed) late plateau-phase cultures were studied by four methods: (i) Reproductive integrity and cell viability were monitored daily by clonogenic-cell assay and erythrosin-b dye-exclusion techniques. (ii) Mitotic frequencies of cells from 18 day old cultures were determined during regrowth by analysing time-lapse video microscope records of dividing cells. (iii) Tritiated-thymidine ([3H]TdR) autoradiography was used to determine the fractions of DNA-synthesizing cells in cultures entering plateau phase and during regrowth after harvest. (iv) The rate of labelled nucleoside uptake and incorporation into DNA was measured using liquid scintillation or sodium iodide crystal counters after labelling with [3H]TdR or [125I]UdR. Non-cycling cells in starved cultures accumulate primarily as G1 phase cells. Most cells not in G1 phase had stopped in G2 phase. Very few cells (less than 2%) were found in S phase. In contrast, about half of the cells in periodically fed cultures were found to be in DNA-synthetic phase, and the percentage of these S phase cells fluctuated in a manner reflecting the frequency of medium replacement. Populations of both types of plateau-phase cultures demonstrate extremely coherent cyclic patterns of DNA synthesis upon harvest and reculturing. They retain this high degree of synchrony for more than three generations after the resumption of growth. From these data it is concluded that nutritionally deprived (starved) late plateau-phase cells generally stop in either G1 or G2 phase, whereas periodically fed late plateau-phase cultures contain a very large fraction of cycling cells. Populations of cells from these two types of non-expanding cultures are kinetically dissimilar, and should not be expected to respond to extracellular stimuli in the same manner.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The technique of labelled mitoses and flow cytometric DNA analysis were used to determine the proliferation kinetics of a human malignant melanoma grown in nude mice and the effect of tumour volume and of long‐term serial transplantation on the kinetic parameters was investigated.
Abstract: The technique of labelled mitoses and flow cytometric DNA analysis were used to determine the proliferation kinetics of a human malignant melanoma grown in nude mice. The effect of tumour volume and of long-term serial transplantation on the kinetic parameters was investigated. The results showed that the cell loss factor, which was the dominant factor in the growth of this melanoma, increased from 52 to 69% with increasing tumour size, whereas the calculated growth fraction showed no systematic changes. The cell generation time increased from 34 to 44 hr with tumour size, mainly due to a prolongation of the G1 duration time, whereas no significant changes occurred in the duration of the S and G2 phases of the cell cycle. The stability of the investigated tumour characteristics indicated that the kinetics of this melanoma remained unchanged during more than sixty serial transplantations in nude mice. The methods applied are suitable for a detailed description of tumour growth kinetics, since they provide complementary results.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Erythropoiesis in vitro was studied with practically pure erythroid progenitor cells: CFU‐E (colony‐forming‐units‐eryth thyroid) and the isolation ofCFU‐e from spleens of thiamphenicol pretreated anaemic mice was monitored by flow cytometry.
Abstract: Erythropoiesis in vitro was studied with practically pure erythroid progenitor cells: CFU-E (colony-forming-units-erythroid). the isolation of CFU-e from spleens of thiamphenicol pretreated anaemic mice with the combined methods of centrifugal elutriation and Percoll density gradient centrifugation was monitored by flow cytometry. the ultimate CFU-e preparation with a density of 1.070 g/ml contained a high percentage of cells in the S phase of the cell cycle (80%). CFU-e occasionally found at a lower density of 1.065 g/ml were predominantly in the G2, + M and G1 phases. When CFU-e were cultured, the number of cells in the distinctive phases of the cell cycle changed periodically, so the cells were partly synchronized. Four periods up to 27 hr were observed by flow cytometrical screening of the cultured cells at hourly intervals. Cell-cycle times between 6 and 7 hr were found for all erythroid cell divisions. This was in agreement with results obtained from colony growth curves. Without the addition of erythropoietin cells start to degenerate after the second cell division. This experimental approach can be used for the cell kinetic modelling of erythropoiesis.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: 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, implying that the technique can discriminate well between populations of clongenic cells which differ in their content of cells in S phase.
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 gamma-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.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In the Chinese hamster, 17 days, after one cycle of the seminiferous epithelium, after two injections of [3H]TdR given 24 hr apart, labelled cells were found among all types of spermatogonia, including stem cells (As), and the following causes for the loss of labelled stem cells are discussed.
Abstract: In the Chinese hamster, 17 days, i. e. one cycle of the seminiferous epithelium, after two injections of [3H]TdR given 24 hr apart, labelled cells were found among all types of spermatogonia, including stem cells (As). These labelled As spermato-gonia derive from one or more self-renewing divisions of the stem cells that originally incorporated [3H]TdR. In the steady state, half of the divisions of the As will be self-renewing and the other half will give rise to Apr spermatogonia that will ultimately become spermatozoa. Theoretically, the labelling index (LI) after 17 days will be similar to that after 1 hr, and in this study twice as high as for the 1-hr interval since only one injection was given. However, experimental values only half that of the theoretical LI were found after 17 days. the following causes for the loss of labelled stem cells are discussed: (1) dilution of label because of division; (2) influx of unlabelled components of false pairs (i. e. newborn stem cells that still have to migrate away. mostly during G1, from their sister cells and are scored as Apr spermatogonia) between 1 hr and 17 days; (3) the existence of long- and short-cycling stem cells, probably combined with preferential differentiation of the short-cycling elements; (4) selective segregation of DNA at stem cell mitosis; and (5) irradiation death of radiosensitive labelled stem cells. As it is not impossible that factors 1, 2, 4 and 5 together account for the total loss of labelled stem cells, LI results do not provide evidence for the existence of separate classes of short- and long-cycling stem cells. The distributions of the LIs of the As, Apr and Aal spermatogonia over the stages of the epithelial cycle at 17 days are similar to those at 1 hr after injection. Hence the regulatory mechanisms that govern the stimulation and inhibition of proliferation of As that give rise to new As for the next epithelial cycle are similar to those of the As that will divide into Apr spermatogonia during the same epithelial cycle. Grain counts revealed that more [3H]TdR is incorporated into As, Apr and Aal spermatogonia that are in S phase during epithelial stages X-IV than in stages V-IX.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A human leukaemic cell line (REH) growing in suspension was incubated with cis‐platinum, hydroxyurea and mitomycin C at various concentrations causing complete cell‐cycle arrest to provide an internal numerical reference for the control of cell loss.
Abstract: A human leukaemic cell line (REH) growing in suspension was incubated with cis-platinum, hydroxyurea and mitomycin C at various concentrations causing complete cell-cycle arrest. At different times the cell suspensions were harvested, diluted 1:1 with a buffer solution, stained without further treatment with a mixture of acridine orange (AO) and ethidium bromide (EB) and analysed with a biparametrical flow cytometer. Fluorescent plastic beads were introduced into the suspensions to provide an internal numerical reference for the control of cell loss. The fluorescence distributions showed three groups of cells: vital cells (V) which were only stained with AO; dead cells in which EB stained cytoplasmic components but not the nuclear DNA (D1), and dead cells which allowed EB to stain both cytoplasm and nuclear DNA (D2). The kinetics of cells entering D1 depended on drug concentration and showed equal characteristics for cis-platinum and mitomycin, but were different for hydroxyurea. The subsequent entry into D2 occurred about 15 hr later and showed no pronounced dependence on drug concentration. Parallel trypan-blue (TB) exclusion tests revealed that TB only stained D2 cells and therefore is not useful for investigating cell-death kinetics during exposure to cell-killing agents.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Very high ratios of labelled: mitotic cells were found, the median ratio for the whole study being ninety‐eight labelled: one mitotic cell, which supports the possibility that not all labelled cells subsequently go on to divide in normal human epidermis.
Abstract: Labelling and mitotic indices were studied in the epidermis of twenty-eight young men. A mean labelling index of 5.5% was found from the whole study and a mean mitotic index of 0.06%. Mitotic index particularly was extremely variable; indices between 0.002 and 0.438% were found in individual biopsies. In the first two of three experiments in which mitotic index at 09.00 hours was compared with that at 15.00 hours, significant differences were found (15.00 hours greater than 09.00 hours by a factor of 2.6, P less than 0.001). However, in the third such experiment no such difference was found, suggesting that the timing and occurrence of diurnal rhythms of mitotic activity may not be consistent in normal human epidermis. In the one experiment in which it was investigated, a significantly higher mitotic index was found at 21.00 hours compared to 09.00 and 15.00 hours. Labelling index did not vary significantly at 09.00, 15.00 or 21.00 hours. However, labelling index did show a significant pattern of change over a 12-month period in two groups of subjects; peaks of labelling were seen in July and troughs in January. Very high ratios of labelled: mitotic cells were found, the median ratio for the whole study being ninety-eight labelled: one mitotic cell. This finding supports the possibility that not all labelled cells subsequently go on to divide in normal human epidermis.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The results suggest that this method of distinguishing among integer distributions of [3H]TdR‐ labelled cells in biopsies of colonic mucosa, may provide a useful basis for identifying individuals with familial polyposis, by separating their labelling patterns from those of low‐risk subjects.
Abstract: An analysis has been developed to improve the quantitation of abnormal patterns of tritiated thymidine ([3H]TdR) labelling of colonic epithelial cells, in biopsy specimens removed from human subjects at varying degrees of risk for colon cancer. After pulse incubation of specimens of colonic mucosa with [3H]TdR, each subject's microautoradiographic epithelial cell labelling distribution was segregated into eleven compartments over entire colonic crypts. the findings of each subject were then analysed to determine their relative degree of similarity to the findings for two reference populations of interest, i.e. a high-risk and a low-risk population; the individual was then classified as being closer to one or the other of the reference populations. the analysis developed is based upon a comparison of multinomial probabilities for the distributions of the labelled cells within the crypts, and permits the routine categorization of uneven distributions of labelled cells. For each subject, certain linear scores, a prognostic index based on them, and a related presumptive risk, were calculated. the sensitivity with which individuals known to be symptomatic for polyposis, and the specificity with which individuals known to be at lower risk were determined, were 73 and 93% respectively. the results suggest that this method of distinguishing among integer distributions of [3H]TdR- labelled cells in biopsies of colonic mucosa, may provide a useful basis for identifying individuals with familial polyposis, by separating their labelling patterns from those of low-risk subjects.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The presence of a bone‐marrow stem‐cell inhibitor able to prevent CFU‐s entry into DNA synthesis after cytosine arabinoside (Ara‐C) treatment has been detected in 7‐month‐old fetal calf liver.
Abstract: The presence of a bone-marrow stem-cell inhibitor able to prevent CFU-s entry into DNA synthesis after cytosine arabinoside (Ara-C) treatment has been detected in 7-month-old fetal calf liver. The inhibitory fraction was obtained through ultrafiltration of a delipidated tissue extract powder and purified by BioGel-P-2 chromatography. The elution pattern on Sephadex G10 is similar to that of the bone-marrow inhibitory extract previously obtained from fetal calf bone marrow. It corresponds to a low-molecular-weight molecule (MW less than 2000), devoid of species specificity and having no inhibitory effect on GM-CFC proliferation.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: CFU‐tr may be the cause of artifactual effects during measurement of haemopoietic stem‐cell cycling by CFU‐s suicide methods, and this has been demonstrated in long‐term bone‐marrow cultures by the hydroxyurea in‐vitro suicide assay.
Abstract: In the early periods (7–9 days) after haemopoietic cell injection, colonies produced by CFU-s and by their progeny are identified in the spleen, while at later periods (11 days after injection) only spleen nodules produced by CFU-s persist. the increase in the suicide values of CFU-s after sublethal (2 Gy) irradiation of mice is associated with a higher proliferation rate of precursors of transitory spleen colonies, but not of CFU-s, as measured by different suicide techniques. During the log-phase of cell growth in a lethally irradiated recipient, the injected CFU-s and CFU-tr proliferate at a higher rate. Active proliferation of CFU-s and CFU-tr has been demonstrated in long-term bone-marrow cultures by the hydroxyurea in-vitro suicide assay. CFU-tr may be the cause of artifactual effects during measurement of haemopoietic stem-cell cycling by CFU-s suicide methods.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: CHO cells which have been sorted by mitotic detachment, centrifugal elutriation and fluorescence activated cell sorting have been followed for up to 14 hr by flow cytometry to examine their progression characteristics to provide quantitative estimates of the cell‐cycle parameters.
Abstract: CHO cells which have been sorted by mitotic detachment, centrifugal elutriation and fluorescence activated cell sorting have been followed for up to 14 hr by flow cytometry to examine their progression characteristics. Mathematical modelling techniques were used to provide quantitative estimates of the cell-cycle parameters. Mitotic detachment gives an 11.2-hr cycle time with mean transit times TG1, TS and TG2M equal to 3.2, 5.6 and 2.4 respectively. Cells prepared by central elutriation in an early G1 state have a 14-hr cycle time with TG1, TS and TG2M of 5.7, 6.0 and 2.3 hr. Populations prepared by centrifugal elutriation enriched in early S and late S and G2M have transit times of 2.7, 5.9 and 1.6 hr and 4.9, 6.7 and 2.1 hr with cycle times of 11.2 and 13.2 hr respectively. Cell sorting for a G1 population gives transit times of 9.8, 8.0 and 3.6 for an overall 21.4-hr cycle time.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: After some hours in culture the epithelium changes markedly in response to extracellular Ca2+ and Mg2+; it respreads and flattens in the presence of Ca2+, while M g2+ becomes less effective in maintaining cell‐to‐substratum contacts.
Abstract: Lens epithelium, when attached to its natural substratum, the lens capsule, can be maintained in culture for more than 2 weeks in a simple HEPES- and EDTA-buffered salt solution (HBS). In HBS, the epithelium shows the same characteristic phenomena of locomotion, initial retraction and respreading which in MEM plus serum precedes the inception of DNA synthesis. These phenomena have been shown to be dependent on extracellular Ca2+. 0.05 mM Ca2+ is necessary for maintaining cell-to-cell contacts of the in vivo epithelium. Higher concentrations of Ca2+ cause the epithelium to retract initially. In contrast, Mg2+ greatly favours cell-substratum interactions leading to the formation of lamellopodia and an initial spreading of the epithelium. After some hours in culture the epithelium changes markedly in response to extracellular Ca2+ and Mg2+; it respreads and flattens in the presence of Ca2+, while Mg2+ becomes less effective in maintaining cell-to-substratum contacts. Mg2+-dependent initial spreading is promoted at pH values near 7.0 but the Ca2+-dependent respreading requires an alkalinization of the salt solution.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The equivalence between the different models identifying the conditions and approximations under which one type of models may be derived from another is discussed.
Abstract: Various types of mathematical models, such as partial differential equations, ordinary differential equations and difference equations, are available in the literature to describe the kinetics of cell proliferation, and different studies of cell kinetic phenomena have been conducted using these models. This paper discusses the equivalence between the different models identifying the conditions and approximations under which one type of models may be derived from another. Such an equivalence study is highly useful for an integration of the diverse results that have been obtained using different models in order to gain a more complete understanding of cell kinetic phenomena.

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TL;DR: A model of cellular differentiation is proposed and lymphocytoid and plasmacytoid cells were separable by elutriation, and density gradient separation characterized the lower‐density cells with lower IgA content and higher clonogenicity.
Abstract: Intravenously transplanted murine plasmacytoma MOPC-315 cells were separated from normal spleen cells from a tumour-bearing mouse by elutriation and characterized according to morphology, immunologic properties and clonogenicity. Morphologically, both lymphocytoid and plasmacytoid cells were separable by elutriation. Flow cytometry correlated DNA content and intracytoplasmic IgA content and demonstrated two distinct populations, both in cell cycle, but with markedly different cellular IgA levels. Density gradient separation characterized the lower-density cells with lower IgA content and higher clonogenicity. From these studies a model of cellular differentiation is proposed.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The effects of irradiation on these cell‐cycle characteristics is highly cellcycle‐dependent and indicates that cell survival in a clonal assay may be a function of the ratio of the incidences of these two types of lesions.
Abstract: The effects of X-irradiation on mouse osteosarcoma cells have been studied by time-lapse cinematography and the resulting pedigrees have been analysed statistically. It is shown that the irradiation treatment causes three types of cell kinetic lesions: cell death (disintegration), cell sterilization (failure to divide) and proliferation delay. The first two lesions are the most important with regard to survival of the irradiated cell in a clonal assay. Of these two lesions, sterilization appears to be highly correlated for sister cells, while this is not true for cell disintegration. This indicates that cell survival in a clonal assay may be a function of the ratio of the incidences of these two types of lesions. The X-ray-induced proliferation delay was studied in terms of intermitotic time distributions, mother-daughter correlation and sibling correlation in relation to the current cell-cycle phase at the time of treatment. This analysis shows that the effects of irradiation on these cell-cycle characteristics is highly cell-cycle-dependent. A qualitative model to account for the observations is presented.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Thymidine incorporation was measured at frequent intervals after heat shock to determine the time of onset of the next DNA synthetic period inynchronized cells of the Harding Passey melanoma grown in culture.
Abstract: Synchronized cells of the Harding Passey melanoma grown in culture were given a heat shock treatment of 44 degrees C for 36 min. Thymidine incorporation was measured at frequent intervals after heat shock to determine the time of onset of the next DNA synthetic period. If the heat shock was given at the end of G1, the following S was delayed by 20 hr. Heating at other times in the cell cycle resulted in an even longer interval before the onset of S. The end of G1 was also the most resistant to hyperthermic killing and to the effect of heat on the magnitude of thymidine incorporation in the following S. Heating the cells a second time did not repeat the effect of the first treatment unless the second heat shock treatment was at a considerably higher temperature. Thus thermotolerance to heat shock killing also applies to cell-cycle delay.

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TL;DR: The specific localization of [3H]UdR in nucleoli, peripheral nucleoplasm and in cytoplasm, as well as differences in the kinetics of the incorporation in relation to phases of the cell cycle are discussed in the light of the differences between the effects of [ 3H] UdR and [3 H]thymidine.
Abstract: Tritium-labelled uridine [( 3H]UdR) perturbs progression of L1210 cells through the mitotic cycle. The main effect manifests as a slowdown or arrest of a portion of cells in G2 and is already observed 2 hr after addition of 0.5-5.0 microCi/ml of [3H]UdR into cultures. At 2.5-5.0 microCi/ml of [3H]UdR a slowdown of cell progression through S is also apparent. Additionally, there is an increase in the number of cells with DNA values higher than 4C in cultures growing in the presence of [3H]UdR for 8-24 hr. A pulse of [3H]UdR of 2 hr duration labels predominantly (95%) cellular RNA. The first cell-cycle effects (G2 slowdown) are observed when the amount of the incorporated [3H]UdR is such that, on average there are fewer than thirty-six [3H] decays per cell which corresponds to approximately 12-19 rads of radiation. The S-phase slowdown is seen at a dose of incorporated [3H]UdR twice as high as that inducing G2 effects. The specific localization of [3H]UdR in nucleoli, peripheral nucleoplasm and in cytoplasm, as well as differences in the kinetics of the incorporation in relation to phases of the cell cycle are discussed in the light of the differences between the effects of [3H]UdR and [3H]thymidine. Mathematical modelling of the cell-cycle effects of [3H]UdR is provided.