Assessment of the symmetry of stem-cell mitoses.
A model of Paneth-cell renewal in the small intestinal epithelium is used to estimate the probability that epithelial stem-cell mitoses are symmetric in the sense that they produce two cells of the same type. I found that counts of the number of Paneth cells per crypt (Paneth cells are terminally differentiated cells derived from small intestinal epithelial stem cells) support a model in which most, if not all, stem-cell mitoses are symmetric.
D000818:Animals; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D004386:Duodenum / Q000166:cytology*; D004847:Epithelial Cells; D008297:Male; D008433:Mathematics; D051379:Mice; D008938:Mitosis; D008954:Models, Biological; D011336:Probability; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology*