Effect of cell cycle duration on somatic evolutionary dynamics

Cellular checkpoints prevent damage and mutation accumulation in tissue cells. DNA repair is one mechanism that can be triggered by checkpoints and involves temporary cell cycle arrest and thus delayed reproduction. Repair‐deficient cells avoid this delay, which has been argued to lead to a selective advantage in the presence of frequent damage. We investigate this hypothesis with stochastic modeling, using mathematical analysis and agent‐based computations. We first model competition between two cell types: a cell population that enters temporary cell cycle arrest, corresponding to repair (referred to as arresting cells), and one that does not enter arrest (referred to as nonarresting cells). Although nonarresting cells are predicted to grow with a faster rate than arresting cells in isolation, this does not translate into a selective advantage in the model. Interestingly, the evolutionary properties of the nonarresting cells depend on the measure (or observable) of interest. When examining the average populations sizes in competition simulations, nonarresting and arresting cells display neutral dynamics. The fixation probability of nonarresting mutants, however, is lower than predicted for a neutral scenario, suggesting a selective disadvantage in this setting. For nonarresting cells to gain a selective advantage, additional mechanisms must be invoked in the model, such as small, repeated phases of tissue damage, each resulting in a brief period of regenerative growth. The same properties are observed in a more complex model where it is explicitly assumed that repair and temporary cell cycle arrest are dependent on the cell having sustained DNA damage, the rate of which can be varied. We conclude that repair‐deficient cells are not automatically advantageous in the presence of frequent DNA damage and that mechanisms beyond avoidance of cell cycle delay must be invoked to explain their emergence.