Multipotency
Multipotent (from Latin multus "a lot" and Latin potentia "ability, strength") are stem cells that can develop into different cell types of a certain lineage . In contrast to the pluripotent stem cells, however, they are no longer able to develop into almost every cell in the body.
Multipotent stem cells include adult stem cells, which can only form organic cells and of which it was previously assumed that the possibilities for differentiation were relatively limited. A blood stem cell should only produce blood and immune cells, and similarly, a brain stem cell should only form the different cell types of the brain. But this old view needs to be revised on the basis of the latest research results. Recently published studies show that these stem cells evidently have greater flexibility. If adult stem cells are brought into a new environment, they can sometimes develop an undreamt-of potential. Polarity reversals seem possible, so that liver cells can be formed from blood stem cells from the bone marrow when they are stored in the liver.
See also
literature
- Senate Commission for Fundamental Issues in Genetic Research (Ed.): Stem Cell Research in Germany. Possibilities and perspectives . John Wiley & Sons, 2007, ISBN 978-3-527-61115-7 .
- Alfred Fischel : textbook of human development . Springer-Verlag, 2013, ISBN 978-3-7091-5685-8 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Multipotency. In: German Society for Regenerative Medicine. Retrieved November 22, 2015 .