Development of Aberrant Crypt Foci Involves a Fission Mechanism as Revealed by Isolation of Aberrant Crypts

Morphological analysis of isolated colonic crypts in rats, postnatally, indicated that the crypts reproduce themselves by a fission mechanism, the division beginning at the crypt base and proceeding upwards until there are two separate crypts. Occasionally, before the separation is complete, a second fission process starts on one or both sides of a bifurcating crypt and a triple-branched or quadruple-branched crypt results. Analysis of isolated aberrant crypt foci (ACF) in rats treated with 1,2-dimethylhydrazine revealed that the development of ACF consisting of multiple crypts is also due to a fission mechanism. Initially, an indentation appears at the base of a single ACF crypt, with subsequent formation of a bifurcation and eventual crypt division.