Research

Stochastic modeling of oligodendrocyte generation in cell culture: model validation with time-lapse data

Ollivier Hyrien¹ , Ibro Ambeskovic² , Margot Mayer-Proschel² , Mark Noble² and Andrei Yakovlev¹

¹  Department of Biostatistics and Computational Biology, University of Rochester, 601 Elmwood Avenue, Rochester, New York 14642, USA

²  Department of Biomedical Genetics, University of Rochester, 601 Elmwood Avenue, Rochester, New York 14642, USA

author email corresponding author email

Theoretical Biology and Medical Modelling 2006, 3:21doi:10.1186/1742-4682-3-21

Published:	17 May 2006

Abstract

Background

The purpose of this paper is two-fold. The first objective is to validate the assumptions behind a stochastic model developed earlier by these authors to describe oligodendrocyte generation in cell culture. The second is to generate time-lapse data that may help biomathematicians to build stochastic models of cell proliferation and differentiation under other experimental scenarios.

Results

Using time-lapse video recording it is possible to follow the individual evolutions of different cells within each clone. This experimental technique is very laborious and cannot replace model-based quantitative inference from clonal data. However, it is unrivalled in validating the structure of a stochastic model intended to describe cell proliferation and differentiation at the clonal level. In this paper, such data are reported and analyzed for oligodendrocyte precursor cells cultured in vitro.

Conclusion

The results strongly support the validity of the most basic assumptions underpinning the previously proposed model of oligodendrocyte development in cell culture. However, there are some discrepancies; the most important is that the contribution of progenitor cell death to cell kinetics in this experimental system has been underestimated.