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. 2014 Aug 21;8(4):940-7.
doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2014.07.019. Epub 2014 Aug 7.

Quantification of crypt and stem cell evolution in the normal and neoplastic human colon

Ann-Marie Baker  1 , Biancastella Cereser  1 , Samuel Melton  2 , Alexander G Fletcher  3 , Manuel Rodriguez-Justo  4 , Paul J Tadrous  5 , Adam Humphries  6 , George Elia  1 , Stuart A C McDonald  1 , Nicholas A Wright  1 , Benjamin D Simons  7 , Marnix Jansen  8 , Trevor A Graham  9
Affiliations

Quantification of crypt and stem cell evolution in the normal and neoplastic human colon

Ann-Marie Baker et al. Cell Rep. .

Erratum in

Abstract

Human intestinal stem cell and crypt dynamics remain poorly characterized because transgenic lineage-tracing methods are impractical in humans. Here, we have circumvented this problem by quantitatively using somatic mtDNA mutations to trace clonal lineages. By analyzing clonal imprints on the walls of colonic crypts, we show that human intestinal stem cells conform to one-dimensional neutral drift dynamics with a "functional" stem cell number of five to six in both normal patients and individuals with familial adenomatous polyposis (germline APC(-/+)). Furthermore, we show that, in adenomatous crypts (APC(-/-)), there is a proportionate increase in both functional stem cell number and the loss/replacement rate. Finally, by analyzing fields of mtDNA mutant crypts, we show that a normal colon crypt divides around once every 30-40 years, and the division rate is increased in adenomas by at least an order of magnitude. These data provide in vivo quantification of human intestinal stem cell and crypt dynamics.

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Figures

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Graphical abstract
Figure 1
Figure 1
Measurement of CCO-Deficient Clone Size and Migration (A) Schematic diagram showing compilation of a “crypt map” by the BiaQIm software. Aligned serial sections are processed by the software to describe the position of CCO-deficient cells in the crypt (adapted from Fellous et al., 2009). Displayed crypt is a nonadenomatous crypt from an AFAP patient. (B) Laser capture microdissection followed by sequencing of mtDNA in a partially CCO-deficient crypt. In this example, the CCO-deficient clone (blue staining) contains an insertion of a cytosine residue (nt9537insC), causing a frameshift in the gene encoding CCO subunit III. Displayed crypt is a nonadenomatous crypt from a patient with FAP. Scale bar represents 50 μm. (C) Schematic diagram showing the expansion and contraction of a CCO-deficient population as it migrates from the crypt base. “Wiggles” of the CCO-deficient clone size are quantified by difference in the CCO− area between adjacent serial sections. (D) Representative examples of crypt maps. The left column represents en face images of the crypts of interest, the middle column the resulting crypt maps, and the right represents the color-processed maps (blue, CCO− cells; black, CCO+ cells). White lines represent missing sections. The graph displays the change in the number of CCO− cells between adjacent sections. Examples of newly emerging clones (crypt “c”) and clones that were putatively in the process of becoming extinct (crypts “a” and “b”) were observed.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Assessment of Crypt Base Cell Number and Proliferative Fraction (A) Smoothed density plot showing change in the relative clone size between sequential sections (“wiggle”). The symmetry around zero indicates that clonal contraction is balanced by equally frequent clonal expansion. The flatter and broader distribution in FAP, AFAP, and adenomatous crypts as compared to normal indicates more frequent, larger fluctuations in clone size. (B) Mean squared difference in CCO− ribbon width as a function of distance along the crypt axis. Normal, FAP, AFAP, and adenomatous crypts all showed the linear relationship predicted by a one-dimensional neutral drift dynamics. Error bars denote SE. (C) Distributions of the change in CCO− ribbon width as a function of displacement along the crypt axis in the normal colon. The measured distribution of changes in ribbon width (points) and the distributions predicted by the mathematical model (see the Supplemental Experimental Procedures) parameterized with the fitted value of the diffusion coefficient (lines) show good agreement. Columns represent the displacement measured in sections along on the crypt axis (Δmz).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Analysis of CCO-Deficient Patch Size (A) Representative images of CCO enzyme histochemistry in normal (patient age = 64 years), FAP nonadenomatous (67 years), and FAP adenomatous (67 years) colonic tissue. The majority of adjacent CCO− crypts (“patches”) are clonally derived. Scale bar represents 500 μm. (B) Distribution of CCO− patch sizes (points) with the maximum-likelihood fit of the crypt fission model with crypt fission rate κ (lines) in a normal patient, and in patients with FAP or AFAP. The fitting procedure is detailed in the Supplemental Experimental Procedures. (C) Histogram of estimated crypt fission rates (κ divisions/year) for wild-type. The mean fission rate was κWT = 0.028 divisions/crypt/year showing a significant variation in rate between patients. (D) Distribution of the ratio of CCO− induction to the crypt fission rate (μ/κadeno) as estimated for adenomatous crypts. A broad range of values was observed.
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