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Intestinal homeostasis is underpinned by LGR5+ve crypt-base columnar stem cells (CBCs), but following injury, dedifferentiation results in the emergence of LGR5-ve regenerative stem cell populations (RSCs), characterised by fetal transcriptional profiles. Neoplasia hijacks regenerative signalling, so we assessed the distribution of CBCs and RSCs in mouse and human intestinal tumors. Using combined molecular-morphological analysis we demonstrate variable expression of stem cell markers across a range of lesions. The degree of CBC-RSC admixture was associated with both epithelial mutation and microenvironmental signalling disruption, and could be mapped across disease molecular subtypes. The CBC-RSC equilibrium was adaptive, with a dynamic response to acute selective pressure, and adaptability was associated with chemoresistance. We propose a fitness landscape model where individual tumors have equilibrated stem cell population distributions along a CBC-RSC phenotypic axis. Cellular plasticity is represented by position shift along this axis, and is influenced by cell-intrinsic, extrinsic and therapeutic selective pressures.

PromastigoteLeishmania mexicanahave a complex cell division cycle characterised by the ordered replication of several single-copy organelles, a prolonged S phase and very rapid G2 and cytokinesis phases, accompanied by cell cycle stage-associated morphological changes. Here we exploit these morphological changes to develop a high-throughput and semi-automated imaging flow cytometry (IFC) pipeline to analyse the cell cycle ofL. mexicanain live cells. Firstly, we demonstrate that, unlike several other DNA stains, Vybrant™ DyeCycle™ Orange (DCO) is non-toxic and enables quantitative DNA imaging in liveL. mexicanapromastigotes. Secondly, by tagging the orphan spindle kinesin, KINF, with mNeonGreen, we describe KINF’s cell cycle-dependent expression and localisation. Then, by combining manual gating of DCO DNA intensity profiles with automated masking and morphological measurements of parasite images, visual determination of the number of flagella per cell, and automated masking and analysis of mNG:KINF fluorescence, we provide a newly detailed description ofL. mexicanapromastigote cell cycle events that, for the first time, includes the durations of individual G2, mitosis and post-mitosis phases. By applying IFC in this way, we were able, in minutes, to capture tens of thousands of high quality brightfield and fluorescent images of liveL. mexicanacells in solution, and to acquire quantitative data across multiple parameters for every image captured. Our custom-developed masking and gating scheme, allowed us to identify elusive G2 cells, show that cytokinesis commences during early mitosis and continues after mitosis is complete, and identify newly divided cells that were within the first 12 minutes of the new cell cycle. Our new pipeline offers many advantages over traditional methods of cell cycle analysis such as fluorescence microscopy and flow cytometry and paves the way for novel high-throughput analysis ofLeishmaniacell division.