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Fig. 4 | Biology Direct

Fig. 4

From: Emergence of heterogeneity in acute leukemias

Fig. 4

Impact of self-renewal rate on the total number of significant clones. Data from 600 simulated patients. a Overview over panels (b)–(d). b We compare self-renewal rate of the first significant clone in two patient groups. Group 1: patients harboring only one significant clone throughout the disease. Group 2: patients harboring more than one significant clone. The self-renewal rate of the first significant clone is significantly higher in group 1. Leftmost plot in (b): If the self-renewal rate of leukemic clones is close to the self-renewal rate of healthy cells, no significant clones emerge. c We compare the self-renewal rate of the second significant clone in two patient groups. Group 1: patients harboring two significant clones throughout the disease. Group 2: patients harboring more than two significant clones. The self-renewal rate of the second significant clone is significantly higher in group 1. d We compare the self-renewal rates of the third emerging significant clone in two patient groups. Group 1: patients harboring three significant clones throughout the disease. Group 2: patients harboring more than three significant clones. The self-renewal rate of the third significant clone is significantly higher in group 1. e Explanation of data in (b)–(d): Clones with high self-renewal rates lead to fast progression of the disease and death before new significant clones can emerge. Clones with small self-renewal rates never grow to a significant size. Clones with intermediate self-renewal rates grow with moderate speed and their offspring have enough time to grow to a significant size. Proliferation rates do not differ significantly between all considered groups. Parameters: mutation rate ν=5·10−9, self-renewal and proliferation rates of the new clones are normally distributed with the mean of the distributions equal to proliferation and self-renewal rates of the parent clone and standard deviation equal to 0.005. Significance: p<0.05 in t-test

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