Cell differentiation

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Stem cell differentiation

Cellular differentiation is the process by which a less specialized cell becomes a more specialized cell type. It is part of developmental biology. Different tissues have different kinds of organelles inside the cells.

Differentiation occurs many times during the development of a multicellular organism. The organism changes from a single zygote to a complex system of tissues and cell types. Differentiation is also a common process in adults: adult stem cells divide to make fully-differentiated daughter cells during tissue repair and during normal cell turnover.[1]

Differentiation dramatically changes a cell's size, shape, metabolic activity, and responsiveness to signals. These changes are largely due to changes in gene expression. With a few exceptions, cellular differentiation almost never involves a change in the DNA sequence itself. It does involve switching off many genes not needed in a particular tissue. Thus, cells in different tissues may have very different physical characteristics despite having the same genome.[2]


References[change | change source]

  1. Slack J.M.W. 2013. Essential developmental biology. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell.
  2. Moore J.A. 1972. Readings in heredity & development. Oxford, N.Y.