CELL REPLICATION
You have labelled a population
of replicating cells in the developing brain of a newborn mouse by systemic injection
of tritiated thymidine.
You sample several brains
from the young animals within one day of injection to determine the initial
level of labeling.
One year later you sample
the other brains.
With respect to the initial
population of labeled cells you want to know:
- if they divided many
times after birth
- where they moved to in
the brain
- if any of them were lost
from the tissue (died or exited) .
CLASS EXERCISE
With respect to the above
3 points:
- What would examination
of tissue sections tell you?
- What would extraction
of the total DNA and scintillation counting tell you?
- If the labelled cells
had divided many times during the year (but none had been lost) what would
you see on tissue sections and what would you see on scintillation counting?