RADIOAUTOGRAPHIC ANALYSIS OF CHANGES IN DIFFERENT PHASES OF CELL KINETICS IN MURINE ORAL MUCOSA

The age related changes in the life cycle of the progenitor cell population of murine oral epithelia was studied. Using radioautographic methods which have been adopted in previous cell cycle studies, the age-related changes of different phases in renewing cells of the palatal, buccal and lingual mucosae were determined. The results confirm published findings on cell cycle changes of epithelia with aging and illustrated further that mitotic phase which has hither to been considered stationary, also changes with aging. The major parts revealed by this study are as follows: 1) The basal progenitor cells in different regions of oral mucosa have different generation times. 2) The basal cell cycle time increases as a function of aging and the region most affected by aging appears to be the epithelium of the cheek. 3) The phases of the cell cycle affected by the process of aging are in increasing order of magnitude: M-, S- and G₁-phase. 4) The age elated change in the number of DNA synthesizing basal progenitor cells occurs at two age periods. Between 1 and 12 months of life it decreases, while from 12 to 20 months it increases.