Cell kinetics of urethane-induced murine pulmonary adenomas: III. Implications of the disparity between the rates of entry into DNA synthesis and into mitosis

Metaphase arrest by vincristine in urethane-induced murine pulmonary adenomas became linear after an interval of 60 min. The rate of entry into metaphase was 0-191%/h, which was considerably less than the 1%/h for the rate of entry into DNA synthesis obtained previously by double labelling. The duration of prophase plus metaphase was calculated to be 1-7 h. A growth fraction of 9% and a cell-loss factor of 52% were derived. The disparity between rates of entry into DNA synthesis and into metaphase was investigated by microdensitometry on Feulgen-stained squash preparations of tumours of varying ages. Tne DNA profiles showed an increasing frequency of hyperdiploid nuclei with age. Circumstantial evidence for polyploidy was provided by the presence of many binucleate cells in the tumours. By analogy with the liver, these cells may well represent a stage in the development of polyploidy, and the possible relevance of these findings to the neoplastic process is considered.

The measurement of the cell cycle time in squamous epithelium using the metaphase arrest technique with vincristine

In squamous epithelia with a single layer of germinative cells, the age distribution of cells in the cell cycle is shown to depend on the direction of the mitotic axis (i.e. a line joining the nuclei of daughter cells) relative to the plane of the basal layer. When axes are in the plane of the basal layer the age distribution is exponential; when cells divide at right angles to the plane of the basal layer, the age distribution is rectangular. When there is a ratio of vertical to horizontal axes, the age distribution is intermediate but can be calculated from knowledge of the proportion of axes in the plane of the layer. Squamous epithelia can be classified according to this arrangement of axes. When there are multiple layers of germinative cells, as in psoriasis, the age distribution is shown to be exponential to a good approximation, whatever the direction of the mitotic axes in the several layers. The importance of these observations is demonstrated by analysing metaphase arrest experiments with vincristine in the single layer of germinative cells in the mouse oesophagus, and in the several layers found in psoriatic epidermis. Choice of the wrong age distribution leads to an error of 6 h in the oesophagus and 23 h in psoriatic epidermis, when the mean cell cycle time is calculated. It is concluded that, in squamous epithelium, it is most important to know the age distribution before calculating the cell cycle time by methods involving measurement of the rate of entry of cells into mitosis or DNA synthesis.

Cell kinetics of urethane-induced murine pulmonary adenomata: II, the growth fraction and cell loss factor

Continuous labelling of urethane induced pulmonary adenomata in adult male A2G mice at intervals up to 20 weeks showed that the growth fraction fell progressively from 18% at 7 weeks to 7% at 20 weeks. This fall appears to be wholly responsible for the decrease in production of adenoma cells with age. A fraction labelled mitoses curve was constructed for pulmonary adenomata at 14 weeks post urethane. Only the first peak was apparent, giving median t2 and ts values of 2 and 9 h respectively. The cell cycle time was calculated at 45 h and the growth fraction at 6-2%, whilst the cell loss factor was estimated at 31%. Other cell loss values were calculated from data on the rate of entry into DNA synthesis obtained previously by double labelling. These values remained constant with time at 83-95%, suggesting that cell loss is in some way linked to cell production. However, the development of polyploidy in adenoma cells could not be eliminated. No areas of necrosis were seen in the adenomata at any time although karyorrhexis occurred in isolated cells. The labelling characteristics of alveolar wall cells in the same lung sections as the adenomata did not vary with time and the continuous labelling curve gave a growth fraction of 1-8%, a DNA synthetic time of 10 h and a cell cycle time of 30 h.

Cell kinetics of urethane induced murine pulmonary adenomata: I. The growth rate

A single injection of urethane into adult male A2G mice produced an increase in the proliferative rate of alveolar wall cells, reaching a peak at 2 weeks post urethan (PU) and declining to control levels by 2 months PU. During this urethane induced proliferative response the single and double labelling indices and the native metaphase index were all elevated although there was no corresponding alteration in the arrested metaphase index. This proliferative response may not be restricted to hyperplasia of potentially neoplastic cells, such as type II epithelium, but may also include type I epithelial cells and alveolar macrophage precursors. However, it was impossible to identify individual cell populations by methods used. The growth rate of adenomata decrease with time and cell kinetic techniques showed that the rates of entry of adenoma cells into DNA synthesis and into metaphase were decreasing concurrently with the growth rate. Thus the rate of cell production falls as adenomata age but how much cell loss contributes to the decrease in growth rate is not yet known. Decreasing cell production could be due to an increased cell cycle time and/or a decreased growth fraction. The duration of DNA synthesis in adenomata increased markedly as the mice survived, suggesting that the cell cycle time might be increased, but further experiments are required to determine whether the growth fraction changes. Attention is drawn to a complication that Colcemid introduces into kinetic studies on alveolar wall cells.