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How deep are your cells?

Nature Reviews Genetics volume 9, pages 500–501 (2008)Cite this article

Each time a cell divides, somatic mutations are introduced — this means that the number of mutations can be used as a measure of the depth of a cell. Owing to the high abundance of microsatellites in humans and mice, and because slippage mutation — which is coupled to cell division — occurs at a relatively high rate in microsatellites, the authors analysed approximately 100 microsatellites and used them to estimate cell depth.

Previous estimates were based on theoretical calculations, which incorporated assumptions of proliferation kinetics and cell number, and were calculated only for oocytes and sperm cells. The authors derived a simple linear correlation between the depth of a cell and its genetic drift from the zygote using an ex vivo calibration set-up. They used this correlation to provide the first precise estimates of the depth of a range of cell types in mice. They found that the average depth of oocytes is 29 cell divisions, which is consistent with previous estimates. The average depth of B cells ranges from 34 to 79; this was linearly related to age, suggesting that B cells undergo one division per day.

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ORIGINAL RESEARCH PAPER

  1. Wasserstrom, A. et al. Estimating cell depth from somatic mutations. PLoS Comput. Biol. 4, e1000058 (2008)

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  1. Elizabeth Neame
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Neame, E. How deep are your cells?. Nat Rev Genet 9, 500–501 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrg2397

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