On the Progenitor Cell Migration Velocity

Abstract

An attempt is presented to extract cell kinetic information from histomorphological features. It is applicable to rapidly proliferating tissues like the intestinal epithelium. Each replicating tissue has an origin where cells are formed and a periphery toward which cells migrate. The migration path along which they move is denominated as tissue radius on which all cell positions are mapped. Cell migration on the radius is associated with cell proliferation at tissue origin. Each mitosis there is associated with the displacement of all cells distal to it by one cell position. The more mitoses positioned between a cell and tissue origin, the greater its migration velocity. It is possible therefore to derive the cell migration velocity v(x) from the cumulative mitotic distribution on the radius, N(x). v(x) = N(x)/tm (tm= mitotic time). In this form v(x) represents also cell production at any point on the radius and may serve for the computation of other cell kinetic parameters like generation time. These arguments are illustrated on the rat incisor tooth inner enamel epithelium which has been studied in the normal and rapidly erupting tooth.

The streaming liver

“…In the intestinal mucosa, cell displacement is most pronounced when studied in sagittally sectioned crypts and villi. The trajectory along which the cell proceeds was denominated previously as tissue radius (6,7). It exhibits an origin located at the crypt bottom and a periphery at the villus tip.…”

Vascular turnover of a continuously growing organ: The rat incisor

“…The present study reveals that vascular tissue supplying the rat incisor has a progenitor compartment, like all other tissues forming the rat incisor (Ness and Smale, 1959;Smith and Warchawsky, 1975;Zajicek et al, 1979). This may serve as a good model for further investigation concerning vascular tissue proliferation, differentiation, maturation, and disintegration.…”

Image Processing in Histopathology

“…Yet the tissue radius concept embraces more than a simple sampling procedure. In the rapidly proliferating tissues, for instance, cells are actually displaced along the radius from tissue origin and outward, the displacement velocity being proportional to the mitotic rate separating the given cell from origin [7]. The more mitoses separate a cell from origin, the faster its displacement velocity and vice versa.…”