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Advances in Systems Biology pp 199–209Cite as

Stem Cell Differentiation as a Renewal-Reward Process: Predictions and Validation in the Colonic Crypt

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Part of the book series: Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology ((AEMB,volume 736))

Abstract

Stem cells serve as persistent reservoirs for replenishment of rapidly renewing tissues, frequently also ensuring that the correct tissue morphology is maintained. This process is inherently stochastic due to the small number and stochastic division patterns within the stem cell compartments, as well as the essentially stochastic differentiation events that follow the initial stem cell expansion. Here we propose a new formalism to describe this process, by employing the approach known in statistics as the renewal-reward process. Using this approximation allows application of the mathematical apparatus developed for renewal-reward processes to the stochastic stem cell biology. We show in the context of colonic crypts that the resulting predictions match the experimental results, while also providing a convenient tool for analysis of normal and abnormal differentiation processes.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biomedical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, 21218, USA

    Kiran Gireesan Vanaja & Andre Levchenko

  2. Department of Medicine, Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, Baltimore, MD, 21287, USA

    Andrew P. Feinberg

Authors
  1. Kiran Gireesan Vanaja
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  2. Andrew P. Feinberg
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  3. Andre Levchenko
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Andre Levchenko .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Informatics, University of Edinburgh, Crichton Street 10, Edinburgh, EH89AB, UK

    Igor I. Goryanin

  2. School of Biological Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Mayfield Road, Edinburgh, EH93JR, UK

    Andrew B. Goryachev

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© 2012 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC

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Vanaja, K.G., Feinberg, A.P., Levchenko, A. (2012). Stem Cell Differentiation as a Renewal-Reward Process: Predictions and Validation in the Colonic Crypt. In: Goryanin, I.I., Goryachev, A.B. (eds) Advances in Systems Biology. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, vol 736. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-7210-1_11

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