Proliferation kinetics of subpopulations of human marrow cells determined by quantifying in vivo incorporation of [2H2]-glucose into DNA of S-phase cells

This report investigated in vivo turnover kinetics of marrow hematopoietic progenitors and precursors using a recently developed stable isotope–mass spectrometric technique (SIMST). Human subjects were administered a 2-day infusion of 6,6-[2H2]-glucose, a nontoxic stable isotope-labeled form of glucose, which becomes incorporated into DNA of all S-phase cells. The percent [2H2]-glucose incorporated into DNA in the form of [2H2]-deoxyadenosine (%[2H2]-dA enrichment) was determined by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. The rate constant of replacement of unlabeled by labeled DNA strands (labeling kinetics) was used to calculate population turnover kinetics of CD34+ cells, CD133+ cells, and CD133–CD34+ cells. The observed mean replacement half-life (t1/2) was 2.6 days for CD34+ cells, 2.5 days for CD133–CD34+ cells, and 6.2 days for CD133+ cells. Results from the estimated rate constant of replacement of labeled by unlabeled DNA (delabeling kinetics) also demonstrated slower turnover rates for CD133+ cells than for CD133–CD34+ cells. Although there was a relatively rapid initial decrease in the %[2H2]-dA enrichment, low levels of labeled DNA persisted in CD34+ cells for at least 4 weeks. The results indicate the presence of subpopulations of CD34+ cells with relatively rapid turnover rates and subpopulations with a slower t1/2 of 28 days. Results also demonstrate that in vivo [2H2]-glucose-SIMST is sensitive enough to detect differences in turnover kinetics between erythroid and megakaryocyte lineage cells. These studies are the first to demonstrate the use of in vivo [2H2]-glucose-SIMST to measure in vivo turnover kinetics of subpopulations of CD34+ cells and precursors in healthy human subjects.