Delayed activation of the DNA replication licensing system in Lgr5(+) intestinal stem cells

During late mitosis and early G1, replication origins are licensed for replication by binding to double hexamers of MCM2-7. Here, we investigate how licensing and proliferative commitment are coupled in the small-intestinal epithelium. We developed a method for identifying cells in intact tissue containing DNA-bound MCM2-7. Interphase cells above the transit-amplifying compartment had no DNA-bound MCM2-7, but still expressed MCM2-7 protein, suggesting that licensing is inhibited immediately upon differentiation. Strikingly, we found most proliferative Lgr5(+) stem cells are in an unlicensed state. This suggests that the elongated cell-cycle of intestinal stem-cells is caused by an increased G1 length, characterised by dormant periods with unlicensed origins. Significantly, the unlicensed state is lost In Apc mutant epithelium, which lacks a functional restriction point, causing licensing immediately upon G1 entry. We propose that the unlicensed G1 of intestinal stem cells creates a temporal window when proliferative fate decisions can be made.