"Cellular differentiation is the process in which a stem cell changes from one type to a differentiated one."
The study of the processes and mechanisms that cells undergo to differentiate into various cell types and form complex tissues and organs.
Cell Signaling Pathways: Ways cells communicate with each other, crucial for development.
Gene Expression: How genes are activated or repressed, plays a major role in differentiation.
Epigenetics: Modifications to DNA that affect gene expression, can also play a role in differentiation.
Stem Cell Biology: The properties and potential uses of stem cells, which are crucial for development.
Morphogenesis: The process of shaping organs and tissues, important for achieving proper differentiation.
Lineage Tracing: Techniques to track the lineage and fate of cells during development.
Transcription Factor Networks: Interacting network of proteins that regulate gene expression during differentiation.
Organogenesis: The process of forming specific organs during development.
Genetic Regulation of Development: The role of genes in controlling the development of the embryo.
Developmental Disabilities: Conditions caused by abnormal development that can be studied to better understand normal development.
Embryonic development: The process by which a zygote transforms into a multicellular organism.
Differentiation of stem cells: The process by which stem cells develop into specialized cells in a specific tissue.
Tissue development: The process by which specialized cells form tissues and organs in the body.
Apoptosis: The programmed cell death or suicide of cells that are not needed by the organism.
Metamorphosis: A process in which an organism undergoes substantial changes in morphology, physiology, and behavior from its juvenile stage to its adult stage.
Aging: The gradual decline in the ability of cells and tissues to function normally over time.
"Differentiation happens multiple times during the development of a multicellular organism as it changes from a simple zygote to a complex system of tissues and cell types."
"Differentiation continues in adulthood as adult stem cells divide and create fully differentiated daughter cells during tissue repair and during normal cell turnover."
"Some differentiation occurs in response to antigen exposure."
"Differentiation dramatically changes a cell's size, shape, membrane potential, metabolic activity, and responsiveness to signals."
"These changes are largely due to highly controlled modifications in gene expression and are the study of epigenetics."
"With a few exceptions, cellular differentiation almost never involves a change in the DNA sequence itself."
"Metabolic composition does get altered quite dramatically, where stem cells are characterized by abundant metabolites with highly unsaturated structures whose levels decrease upon differentiation."
"A specialized type of differentiation, known as terminal differentiation, is of importance in some tissues, including vertebrate nervous system, striated muscle, epidermis, and gut."
"During terminal differentiation, a precursor cell formerly capable of cell division permanently leaves the cell cycle, dismantles the cell cycle machinery, and often expresses a range of genes characteristic of the cell's final function."
"Differentiation may continue to occur after terminal differentiation if the capacity and functions of the cell undergo further changes."
"Among dividing cells, there are multiple levels of cell potency, which is the cell's ability to differentiate into other cell types."
"A cell that can differentiate into all cell types, including the placental tissue, is known as totipotent."
"In mammals, only the zygote and subsequent blastomeres are totipotent."
"A cell that can differentiate into all cell types of the adult organism is known as pluripotent."
"Virally induced expression of four transcription factors Oct4, Sox2, c-Myc, and Klf4 (Yamanaka factors) is sufficient to create pluripotent (iPS) cells from adult fibroblasts."
"A multipotent cell is one that can differentiate into multiple different, but closely related cell types."
"Oligopotent cells are more restricted than multipotent but can still differentiate into a few closely related cell types."
"Unipotent cells can differentiate into only one cell type, but are capable of self-renewal."
"In cytopathology, the level of cellular differentiation is used as a measure of cancer progression. 'Grade' is a marker of how differentiated a cell in a tumor is."