ABSTRACT
Knowledge of the kinetics of epithelial cell populations in normal and abnormal colon is obviously of potential importance in understanding colon cancer and in the designing of a rational therapy for the condition. B. E. Walker and C. P. Leblond and W. L. Hughes independently established that DNA synthesis in the epithelium of normal colon is restricted to the lower parts of the crypts of Lieberkuhn. In the light of great variability in reports of cell cycle parameters in the epithelium of normal colon, it is hardly surprising that reported cell proliferation data for colon tumors are also highly variable. J. -R. Dupont et al. first demonstrated that immunosympathectomy led to a long-term increase in crypt-to-villus transit time for tritiated thymidine-labeled cells in rat small intestine, thus leading to renewed interest in the concept of neural control of cell division.
