Related topics: stem cells
Progenitor cell
hideLike stem cells, progenitor cells have a capacity to differentiate into a specific type of cell. In contrast to stem cells, however, they are already far more specific: they are pushed to differentiate into their "target" cell. The most important difference between stem cells and progenitor cells is that stem cells can replicate indefinitely, whereas progenitor cells can only divide a limited number of times. Controversy about the exact definition remains and the concept is still evolving.
Despite the difficulty of defining progenitors, the term is frequently used in research. Thus, the importance of progenitors cannot be ignored.
The terms "progenitor cell" and "stem cell" are sometimes equated.
For more information about Progenitor cell, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
News tagged with progenitor cells
Stem cells' 'suspended' state preserved by key step, scientists report
Jul 08, 2009 |
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Scientists have identified a gene that is essential for embryonic stem cells to maintain their all-purpose, pluripotent state. Exploiting the finding may lead to a greater understanding of how cells acquire their specialized ...
Cell microenvironments hold key to future stem cell therapies
Feb 27, 2009 |
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Adult stem cells and their more committed kin, progenitor cells, are prized by medical researchers for their ability to produce different types of specialized cells. The potential of using these cells to repair ...
New source discovered for the generation of nerve cells in the brain
Medicine & Health / Neuroscience
Dec 01, 2009 |
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The research group of Professor Magdalena Gotz of Helmholtz Zentrum Munchen and Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitat Munich (Germany) has made a significant advance in understanding regeneration processes in the brain. The researchers ...
Genetics of patterning the cerebral cortex
Medicine & Health / Neuroscience
Oct 13, 2009 |
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The cerebral cortex, the largest and most complex component of the brain, is unique to mammals and alone has evolved human specializations. Although at first all stem cells in charge of building the cerebral ...
Reactive oxygen in fruit flies acts as a cell signalling mechanism for immune response
Sep 24, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- For years, health conscious people have been taking antioxidants to reduce the levels of reactive oxygen in their blood and prevent the DNA damage done by free radicals, which are the result of oxidative ...
Low-carb diets linked to atherosclerosis and impaired blood vessel growth
Aug 24, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Even as low-carbohydrate/high-protein diets have proven successful at helping individuals rapidly lose weight, little is known about the diets' long-term effects on vascular health.
New steps forward in cell reprogramming
Aug 10, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Harvard Stem Cell Institute (HSCI) researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) have substantially improved the odds of successfully reprogramming differentiated cells into induced ...
Stem cell 'daughters' lead to breast cancer
Aug 02, 2009 |
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Walter and Eliza Hall Institute scientists have found that a population of breast cells called luminal progenitor cells are likely to be responsible for breast cancers that develop in women carrying mutations ...
Scientists find molecule that regulates heart size by using zebrafish screening model
Jul 05, 2009 |
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Using zebrafish, researchers at the University of Pittsburgh have identified and described an enzyme inhibitor that allows them to increase the number of cardiac progenitor cells and therefore influence the size of the developing ...
New device measures heart health with drop of blood
Jun 22, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Is your heart sound? To answer that question, all assistant professor Shashi Murthy needs is a single drop of your blood.
Researchers identify new source of insulin-producing cells
Nov 24, 2008 |
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Researchers at the Joslin Diabetes Center have shown that insulin-producing pancreatic beta cells can form after birth or after injury from progenitor cells within the pancreas that were not beta cells, a finding that contradicts ...
Gene find sheds light on motor neuron diseases like ALS
Oct 22, 2008 |
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Scientists have identified a gene in mice that plays a central role in the proper development of one of the nerve cells that goes bad in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig's disease, and some other diseases that ...
'Baby' fat cells may be key to treating obesity
Sep 18, 2008 |
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Immature, or "baby," fat cells lurk in the walls of the blood vessels that nourish fatty tissue, just waiting for excess calories to help them grow into the adult monsters responsible for packing on the extra pounds, researchers ...
Researchers grow human blood vessels in mice from adult progenitor cells
Jul 19, 2008 |
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For the first time, researchers have successfully grown functional human blood vessels in mice using cells from adult human donors — an important step in developing clinical strategies to grow tissue, researchers report in ...
Statins have unexpected effect on pool of powerful brain cells
Jul 03, 2008 |
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Cholesterol-lowering drugs known as statins have a profound effect on an elite group of cells important to brain health as we age, scientists at the University of Rochester Medical Center have found. The new findings shed ...
