Colloquium The Department of Statistics presents   A.Y. Yakovlev Huntsman Cancer Institute University of Utah     Stochastic Formulations of a Clock Model for Temporally Regulated Differentiation of Brain Cells in Tissue Culture.     Abstract It is possible to grow oligodendrocyte type-2 astrocyte (O-2A) progenitor cells in vitro in such a manner that they divide and generate oligodendrocytes with a timing which recapitulates the timing of normal development  in vivo. The most widely accepted model of this process assumes a cell-intrinsic biological clock that resides in the O-2A progenitor cell and counts the number of mitotic divisions. The intrinsic clock model, originally proposed in 1985, remains as the dominant theoretical concept for the analysis of timed differentiation in this cell lineage.  In this paper, we proceed from different biologically plausible assumptions to provide a  stochastic description of the clock model based on the theory of multitype age-dependent branching processes. Using this approach we provide a biologically meaningful interpretation of the observed pattern of oligodendrocyte generation in vitro and its modification in the presence of thyroid hormone.     Monday, February 16, 1998 4:10 P.M.,  1070 CEB (Duncan Hall) 4:00 P.M.: Coffee, 1044 CEB  

 
 

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