Sunday, February 17, 2008

What is Pluripotent Cells?

Pluripotent Cells


In humans,‭ ‬after the first four days,‭ ‬the cells are no longer able to produce every type of tissue required‭; ‬they have already begun to differentiate.‭ ‬At this stage they can already be broadly grouped into the three primary germ layers‭; ‬the‭ ‬ectoderm‭ (‬covering tissues such as skin and retina‭)‬,‭ ‬endoderm‭ (‬the gastrointestinal tract,‭ ‬respiratory tract,‭ ‬the liver and the pancreas‭) ‬and the‭ ‬mesoderm‭ (‬mostly connective and circulatory,‭ ‬such as bones,‭ ‬heart,‭ ‬blood vessels and muscles‭)‬.‭ ‬As these tissues are able to produce multiple cell-types but are not able to produce all cell-types they are termed pluripotent,‭ ‬from the latin‭ ‬pluralis meaning more.

Stem Cells


The totipotent and pluripotent cells where sourced from an embryo are a classified as‭ ‬embryonic stem cells,‭ ‬cells within the embryo from which other types of cell originate.

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