Is this really what happens? If so, the three lineages would give rise to layers in organs such as the colon with three distinct patterns of ancestral somatic mutations. Alternately, organs could be created by pluripotent stem cells that locally create the layers of tissue observed. In such a case local elements of layers would to some extent share a genetic pattern of somatic mutations.
Dear Gnanasekaran,
The wall of intestine developes from the endoderm-derived epithelium containing specialized intestinal stem cells, mesoderm-derived smooth muscle, vasculature, lymphatics and immune cells and fibrous connective tissue, and the ectoderm-derived enteric nervous system. Therefore also the mutations may be in each cell type and tumors of the gut can be of the endodermal, mesodermal (mesenchymal) as well as ectodermal origin.
Best regards.
Pavel
Dear Prof. Pavel Travnik,
Thank you very much for your reply.
I refer to the high rates of mutation in stem cells in human lung growth that would cause each stem cell lineage to display a unique set of somatic point mutation (Sudo et al., 2006, 2008).
A number of years back, some of my lab members published a paper on the very clear distinction in RNA expression patterns across the colon proximal-distal axis. http://physiolgenomics.physiology.org/content/33/1/50
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