Identification and behavior of label-retaining cells in epithelia

Thesis/Dissertation · Fri Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1982

OSTI ID:5810552

Bickenbach, J R

A subpopulation of stem cells has been demonstrated in several renewing tissues. Such cells have a slow cell cycle and provide differentiating cells during normal turnover and during regeneration of the tissue following damage. The presence of slowly-cycling cells in epithelia from regions of skin and oral mucosa was examined by labeling 10-day-old mice and 5-day-old hamsters with tritiated thymidine (/sup 3/H-TdR) and observing the rate at which label was diluted from the basal cells. Label was rapidly diluted by cell division in most cells but a small percentage of basal cells (label-retaining cells, LRCS) was found to retain label for up to ninety days. Electron microscopic autoradiography and ..beta..-glucuronidase histochemistry with autoradiography were used to distinguish slowly-cycling keratinocytes from Langerhans cells. Such findings of slowly-cycling keratinocytes in epithelia with the ability to proliferate in culture and with a direct relationship to patterns of tissue architecture suggest that LRCs in epithelia correspond to stem cells described in other continuously renewing tissues.

• Research Organization: Iowa Univ., Iowa City (USA)
• OSTI ID: 5810552
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

550301* -- Cytology-- Tracer Techniques
59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
ANIMAL CELLS
ANIMAL TISSUES
ANIMALS
AUTORADIOGRAPHY
AZINES
BODY
CELL CYCLE
CELL DIVISION
ELECTRON MICROSCOPY
EPITHELIUM
HAMSTERS
HETEROCYCLIC COMPOUNDS
KINETICS
LABELLED COMPOUNDS
MAMMALS
MEMBRANES
MICE
MICROSCOPY
MUCOUS MEMBRANES
NUCLEOSIDES
NUCLEOTIDES
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC NITROGEN COMPOUNDS
ORGANS
PYRIMIDINES
RIBOSIDES
RODENTS
SKIN
SOMATIC CELLS
STEM CELLS
THYMIDINE
TISSUES
TRITIUM COMPOUNDS
VERTEBRATES