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Review
. 2005 Dec;38(6):347-55.
doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2184.2005.00355.x.

Retention of stem cell patterns in malignant cell lines

I C Mackenzie  1
Affiliations
Review

Retention of stem cell patterns in malignant cell lines

I C Mackenzie. Cell Prolif. 2005 Dec.
No abstract available

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Stem cell division patterns in epithelia. (a, b) Illustrate two different stem cell division patterns. (a) A stem cell divides to produce two daughter cells identical with itself. This symmetric division pattern produces an expanding stem cell population and is characteristic of embryonic stem cells. (b) A stem cell divides to produce two disimilar cells, one of which remains identical to the parent stem cell and the second which has lost stem cell properties. This asymmetric division pattern is associated with the steady state renewal of tissues where the number of stem cells remains constant while feeding cells into a differentiation pathway. In epithelia and most other tissues there is typically also an amplification phase as shown in (c). Here, the non‐stem cell daughter and its progeny, described as amplifying cells, undergo a series of symetrical divisions to expand the differentiating cell population. As illustrated, the broken lines divide the cell population into three categories of stem, amplifying and differentiated cells. It is assumed that cells normally progress from left to right but it is uncertain whether there are sharp transitions between these compartments. Experimental evidence indicates that amplifying cells can regain stem cell properties if exposed to viral or developmental influences (Barrandon et al. 1989; Pearton et al. 2005). Factors that influence the fraction of total cells that are stem cells include the rate of stem cell division and the time cells take to differentiate. However, the number of amplification divisions has a major effect and adding or removing one amplification tier approximately halves or doubles the proportion of stem cells.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Clonal morphologies in malignant cell lines. Colony morphologies formed by the CA1 cell line which was derived from an oral carcinoma. (a) A holoclone characterized by its round colony outline and small, closely packed and slightly spindle‐shaped cells. (b) A meroclone with larger, more flattened, central cells that remain in contact with each other unlike cells at the periphery of the colony which have separated and acquired an ovoid outline. (c) A paraclone in which few flattened cells remain in contact and the colony consists largely of scattered ovoid cells. Differences in colony morphologies are readily distinguishable but the continuous gradient of change from one colony form to the next makes classification somewhat arbitrary.
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