Objective: To identify the expression of Doublecortin and calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase-like-1-expressing cells (DCAMKL-1-expressing cells) in the colon epithelium and to analyze their deviation in dextran sulfate sodium (DSS) induced colitis and colitis associated cancer.
Methods: A total of 60 healthy female C57 BL/6J mice were used, 40 for the DSS induced colitis model group and 20 for colitis associated cancer model group. In the former group, mice were sacrificed at day 7 after DSS administration (B group), 3 days (C group) and 7 days (D group) after DSS withdraw, separately. The control (A group) mice were sacrificed at day 7. In the latter group, mice were gave three repetitive oral administrations of DSS and regular water after injected intraperitoneally with azoxymethane (AOM). The control group mice were injected intraperitoneally with physiological saline, and then regular water was given. All the mice were sacrificed 61 days later. DCAMKL-1 expressions were detected by both immunohistochemistry and Western blot.
Results: There were some DCAMKL-1-expressing cells in the normal mouse colon epithelium. Most of them were located in the base of the crypt. All DCAMKL-1-expressing cells expressed Musashi-1. In the DSS-induced colitis, the number of DCAMKL-1-expressing cells decreased 7 days after DSS administration and recovered 3 days later. The expression of DCAMKL-1 increased apparently in the mice with colitis-induced cancer. Except the base of the crypt, some of them were located in the middle portion of the crypt and some exhibited cytoplasm beta-Catenin staining.
Conclusion: DCAMKL-1 is a putative intestinal stem cell marker. Using DCAMKL-1 as a marker for colon stem cells, we could describe the expression pattern of colon stem cells during acute and chronic mucosal injury.