Pluripotency is the ability of the human embryonic stem cell to differentiate or become almost any cell in the body.
Pluripotency in the broad sense refers to "having more than one potential outcome." In biological systems, this can refer either to
cellsThe cell is the basic structural and functional unit of all known living organisms. It is the smallest unit of an organism that is classified as living, and is often called the building block of life. The Alberts text discusses how the "cellular building blocks" move to shape developing embryos...
or to biological compounds. From the Latin
pluri for "many", and
potent for "power, or capacity." A pluripotent cell can create all cell types except for extra embryonic tissue, unlike a totipotent cell, (tot=all), which can produce every cell type including extra embryonic tissue.
In cell biology, the definition of pluripotency has come to refer to a stem cell that has the potential to
differentiateIn developmental biology, cellular differentiation is the process by which a less specialized cell becomes a more specialized cell type. Differentiation occurs numerous times during the development of a multicellular organism as the organism changes from a single zygote to a complex system of...
into any of the three germ layers: endoderm (interior stomach lining, gastrointestinal tract, the lungs), mesoderm (muscle, bone, blood, urogenital), or ectoderm (epidermal tissues and nervous system).
Pluripotency is the ability of the human embryonic stem cell to differentiate or become almost any cell in the body.
Pluripotency in the broad sense refers to "having more than one potential outcome." In biological systems, this can refer either to
cellsThe cell is the basic structural and functional unit of all known living organisms. It is the smallest unit of an organism that is classified as living, and is often called the building block of life. The Alberts text discusses how the "cellular building blocks" move to shape developing embryos...
or to biological compounds. From the Latin
pluri for "many", and
potent for "power, or capacity." A pluripotent cell can create all cell types except for extra embryonic tissue, unlike a totipotent cell, (tot=all), which can produce every cell type including extra embryonic tissue.
Pluripotent (cell biology)
In cell biology, the definition of pluripotency has come to refer to a stem cell that has the potential to
differentiateIn developmental biology, cellular differentiation is the process by which a less specialized cell becomes a more specialized cell type. Differentiation occurs numerous times during the development of a multicellular organism as the organism changes from a single zygote to a complex system of...
into any of the three germ layers: endoderm (interior stomach lining, gastrointestinal tract, the lungs), mesoderm (muscle, bone, blood, urogenital), or ectoderm (epidermal tissues and nervous system). Pluripotent stem cells can give rise to any fetal or adult cell type. However, alone they cannot develop into a fetal or adult animal because they lack the potential to contribute to extraembryonic tissue, such as the
placentaThe placenta is an organ unique to mammals that connects the developing fetus to the uterine wall. The placenta supplies the fetus with oxygen and food, and allows fetal waste to be disposed of via the maternal kidneys...
.
In contrast to pluripotent stemcells, many
progenitor cellLike 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...
s are
multipotentMultipotent progenitor cells have the potential to give rise to cells from multiple, but a limited number of lineages. An example of a multipotent stem cell is a hematopoietic cell — a blood stem cell that can develop into several types of blood cells, but cannot develop into brain cells or other...
, i.e. they are capable of differentiating into a limited number of tissue types.
Pluripotent (biological compounds)
Pluripotency can also be used (albeit less commonly) to describe the ability of certain substances to produce several distinct biological responses.
For example, in
immunologyImmunology is a broad branch of biomedical science that covers the study of all aspects of the immune system in all organisms. It deals with, among other things, the physiological functioning of the immune system in states of both health and disease; malfunctions of the immune system in...
many cytokines are pluripotent, in that each of these compounds can activate specific behavior in some cell types and inhibit other behavior in other cell types. Interferon gamma represents an excellent example of pluripotency. In most somatic cells it inhibits growth and upregulates expression of
Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC)The major histocompatibility complex is a large genomic region or gene family found in most vertebrates. It is the most gene-dense region of the mammalian genome and plays an important role in the immune system and autoimmunity. The diversity of MHC is important in the immune diversity in the...
antigens in a general anti-viral response. In B lymphocytes (B cells) it stimulates antibody class switching, and in
Natural Killer (NK)Natural killer cells are a type of cytotoxic lymphocyte that constitute a major component of the innate immune system. NK cells play a major role in the rejection of tumors and cells infected by viruses...
cells this protein hormone stimulates maturation. In macrophages it activates
intracellularNot to be confused with intercellular, meaning "between cells".In cell biology, molecular biology and related fields, the word intracellular means "inside the cell".It is used in contrast to extracellular...
killing.
Pluripotent cells have the ability to phagocytize bacterial cells and lyse red blood cells. Victims with the disease Typhoid Lymphoma have a defect in the beta nucleotide in the nucleus of the pluripotent cell. This causes the cell to lyse red blood cells, eventually leading to a death by suffocation due to the lack of oxygen in the body.