Cellular Differentiation Flashcards
What is differentiation?
Differentiation is a process by which unspecialised cells become specialised for a specific function in the body of a living organism
What does the differentiation process depend on?
Gene expression
What is the essence of a specialised cell?
A mammalian muscle cell expresses mammalian muscle cell genes and so on. Therefore mammalian muscle cells produce mammalian muscle cell proteins
What are meristems?
Regions in plants containing unspecialised cells
What can meristems do?
Meristems are capable of cell division and produce new cells that can then be differentiated into permanent tissues
What are stem cells?
Stem cells are relatively unspecialised cells in animals
What can stem cells do?
Stem cells can divide to produce cells that can then differentiate into various cell types and more stem cells
What is the result of stem cells in an adult organism?
All cell types that make up any adult organism were all made by stem cells
What is pluripotent?
An immature cell or a stem cell that can give rise to several different cell types
What are stem cells function in adult organisms?
Stem cells within tissues differentiate to replace damaged cells of the type in those tissues
What is a cost of a cell becoming differntiated?
It can no longer make copies of itself, hence the existence of stem cells
What are the two types of stem cells?
Embryonic stem cells and Tissue stem cells
What is the difference between embryonic stem cells and tissue stem cells?
Embryonic stem cells only exist in an embryo and can give rise to all types of cell, they are also able to divide continuously where as Tissue stem cells are found in mature organisms, their function is to replenish differentiated cells, they are multipotent
What is multipotent?
An immature cell or a stem cell can only give rise to a limited range of cell types
