(A)Symmetric Stem Cell Replication and Cancer
Figure 4
The Impact of Compartment Size n on the Average Time to Fixation of a Mutant Cell Based on Equation 9
(A) As the compartment size increases, the average time to fixation increases. Parameter values are n = 10 (black), n = 50 (red), n = 100 (green), n = 200 (blue), and n = 1,000 (cyan). For all curves pa = qa = 0.25; pb = qb = 1/3; r = 1.02.
(B) The reproductive fitness of the mutant SCs compared with the normal SC pool plays a determining role in the evolutionary trajectory of the mutant population. A mutant with a low reproductive fitness (black) (pa = pb = 0.3; qa = qb = 1/3, r = 0.8, n = 1,000) has a low prevalence in the population, while the prevalence increases as the fitness increases (red, r = 1.0; green, r = 1.2; blue, r = 1.4; cyan, r = 1.6; yellow, r = 1.8). If the mutant cells have a higher fitness and increased probability for self-renewal, the probability of fixation is even higher. Each result is the summary of 1,000 simulations and the percentage plotted.