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Dedifferentiation
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dedifferentiation is a cellular process commonly believed to be uniquely available to lower life forms such as worms and amphibians in which a partially or terminally differentiated cell reverts to an earlier developmental stage.
Cells in cell culture can lose properties they originally had, such as protein expression, or change shape. This process is also termed dedifferentiation[1].
Dedifferentiation also occurs in plants[2].
Some believe dedifferentiation is an aberration of the normal development cycle that results in cancer, whereas others believe it to be a natural part of the immune response lost by humans at some point as a result of evolution.
A small molecule dubbed reversine, a purine analog, has been discovered that has proven to induce dedifferentiation in myotubes. These dedifferentiated cells were then able to redifferentiate into osteoblasts and adipocytes.
- ^ Dedifferentiation-associated changes in morphology and gene expression in primary human articular chondrocytes in cell culture, M. Schnabel et al, Osteoarthritis and Cartilage, Volume 10, Issue 1 , January 2002, Pages 62-70.
- ^ Dedifferentiation and Regeneration in Bryophytes: A Selective Review, K.L. Giles, New Zealand Journal of Botany 9: 689-94