Unequal Cell Division as a Driving Force During Differentiation

✍ Scribed by Millet Treinin; Dror G. Feitelson

• Book ID: 102611127
• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 1993
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 353 KB
• Volume: 160
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0022-5193
• DOI: 10.1006/jtbi.1993.1006

✦ Synopsis

Unequal cell division, leading to daughter cells of different sizes, is a common event during development. We have formulated a model that shows how different cell sizes can lead to significant differences in the expression of an activator gene. The model is based on well-known aspects of the regulation of gene expression, specifically the existence of multiple regulatory sites, positive autoregulation, and the short half-life of regulatory proteins. Thus the daughter cells may follow distinct differentiation pathways even if there were no localized determinants in the mother celll.