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Related Experiment Videos

Why do stem cells exist?

J A Heddle1, L Cosentino, G Dawod

  • 1Department of Biology, York University, Toronto, Canada. jheddle@Yorku.ca

Environmental and Molecular Mutagenesis
|January 1, 1996
PubMed
Summary

Stem cells in self-renewing tissues may exist to minimize cancer. This stem cell hierarchy reduces cell divisions, thereby lowering somatic mutations and cancer risk by up to 100-fold.

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Area of Science:

  • Cell biology
  • Evolutionary biology
  • Cancer research

Background:

  • Self-renewing tissues possess a differentiation hierarchy with stem cells.
  • Cancerous mutations predominantly arise in stem cells.
  • The evolutionary advantage of this stem cell hierarchy remains unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the evolutionary basis for stem cell hierarchies in self-renewing tissues.
  • To explore alternative differentiation hierarchies and their plausibility.
  • To link somatic mutation frequencies to the origin of cancer.

Main Methods:

  • Analysis of somatic mutation frequencies at transgenic and endogenous loci.
  • Evaluation of evidence implicating cell division in somatic mutation.
  • Modeling of alternative differentiation hierarchies.

Main Results:

  • Alternative differentiation hierarchies without stem cells are biologically plausible.
  • Somatic mutation frequencies implicate cell division as a primary source of mutations.
  • Stem cell hierarchies significantly reduce somatic mutations in permanent tissue residents.

Conclusions:

  • Stem cell existence is likely an evolutionary adaptation to reduce cancer risk.
  • The stem cell hierarchy minimizes cancer by reducing cell divisions and somatic mutations.
  • This mechanism offers substantial cancer protection, potentially exceeding 100-fold in tissues like the small intestine.

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