"Cellular differentiation is the process in which a stem cell changes from one type to a differentiated one."
Process by which stem cells develop into specialized cells with distinct functions and characteristics.
Epigenetics: Study of heritable changes in gene expression without altering DNA sequence.
Stem cells: Undifferentiated cells that have the potential to give rise to various cell types.
Signal transduction pathways: Intracellular signaling that mediate the communication between cells.
Transcription factors: Proteins that regulate gene expression by binding to DNA.
Gene regulation: Mechanism that controls the expression of genes.
Morphogenesis: The shaping of organs and tissues during embryonic development.
Extracellular matrix: Network of molecules that provide structural support to cells.
Apoptosis: Programmed cell death, crucial for removing unwanted cells during development.
Cell fate determination: The process of deciding which cell type to become.
Differentiation markers: Molecules expressed by differentiating cells to distinguish them from other cell types.
Homeobox genes: Regulatory genes that control embryonic development.
Plasticity: Ability of cells to change their fate during development or in response to injuries.
Lineage tracing: Technique used to track the cell lineage during development.
MicroRNAs: Small non-coding RNAs that regulate gene expression.
Growth factors: Proteins that stimulate cell growth and division.
Cell-cell interactions: Communication between adjacent cells that influences cellular behavior.
Organogenesis: The formation of organs during embryonic development.
Developmental timing: The process of development that occurs in a specific temporal sequence.
Tissue remodeling: The process of modifying the structure and organization of tissues during development.
Cell cycle regulation: Control mechanism that ensures proper cell division during development.
Embryonic Differentiation: It is the process where embryonic cells differentiate into specific cell types, mainly during early fetal development, usually governed by regulatory genes specified in their DNA.
Stem Cell Differentiation: Stem cells have the ability to differentiate into a wide range of cell types, depending on their environment or differentiation cues, including bone cells, muscle cells, blood cells, or nerve cells.
Tissue Differentiation: It is the process by which cells in a tissue acquire their specific structure and function, such as epithelial cells, connective tissue cells, or muscle cells.
Neuronal Differentiation: Neurons differentiate into multiple subtypes, depending on their location in the brain or spinal cord, their morphology, and function.
Hematopoietic Differentiation: It is the process in which hematopoietic stem cells differentiate and mature into different blood cell types, including red or white blood cells, platelets or macrophages, guided by a variety of regulatory proteins.
Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition (EMT): It is a process where epithelial cells lose their cell-cell adhesion, become motile, and differentiate into mesenchymal cells, playing a crucial role in development and tissue repair or cancer progression.
Myogenic Differentiation: It is the process where undifferentiated mesenchymal stem cells differentiate into skeletal muscle tissue, regulated by a complex network of transcription factors and signaling pathways.
"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."
"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."
"Finally, 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."