Stem cell proliferative history in tissue revealed by temporal halogenated thymidine analog discrimination.

Detection of proliferating cells based on bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) incorporation and determination of phenotype by immunofluorescence labeling are standard approaches for studying stem and progenitor cell populations in developing and adult tissue as well as in histopathology studies. We describe incorporation of different halogenated thymidine analogs for temporal discrimination of cell cycle in the rat. With equimolar delivery, these analogs are suitable for quantitative histological studies including assessment of the regulation of proliferation, clonal analysis and simultaneous profiling of cell phenotype relative to proliferative history.