Cell fate Flashcards
What is cell fate?
What type of cell an individual cell will develop into.
What is a field/anlage?
A group of cells that will produce a particular tissue or organ.
How are fate maps generated?
- Injection of a cell restricted dye such as fluorescently labelled dextran, nile blue or dil.
- Injection of RNA for a marker gene.
- Injection of a retrovirus carrying a B-galactosidase reporter gene (replicates RNA to DNA so it integrates into the host).
- Grafting of labelled tissue into a new host.
What is differentiation?
Process by which a cell adopts its final shape, size and properties by expressing proteins specific to its cell type.
What is potency?
The range of different cell fates a particular cell will produce e.g totipotent, pluripotent etc.
What is commitment?
A cell is committed to a particular cell fate if it develops into this cell type under normal conditions. However, if the conditions/environment are changed it can adopt a different fate so its not irreversible.
What is determination?
The irreversible commitment of a cell to a particular fate.
How do you determine if neighbouring cells are required for a cell to adopt a particular fate?
Explant: take out a cell and put it in a petri dish. If it continues to become that fate then neighbours don’t matter. If its something different then neighbours matter.
Ablation:Kill cells around your cell and see what happens. If cell stays the same then neighbours don’t matter. If it becomes something different then neighbours matter.
What is competence?
Ability of a group of cells to respond to a signal.
How do you visualise the site of gene transcription in cells?
In situ hybridisation
How do you visualise the site of protein expression in cells?
Immunohistochemistry and GFP fusion protein.
What are the two models for generating differences between cells?
Cell-cell signalling
Asymmetric cell division
What is rotational cleavage?
Every time a cell divides, the next division it at 90o to the previous one.
What does site of sperm entry determine?
Posterior
Example of different cell fate due to asymmetric division.
In Volvox carteri, cells that divide asymmetrically become either somatic or gonidia (large become gonidia, small somatic).
Cell that divide symmetrically all become somatic.
