Document Detail


Cell density sensing and size determination.
MedLine Citation:
PMID:  21521184     Owner:  NLM     Status:  MEDLINE    
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
The social amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum is one of the leading model systems used to study how cells count themselves to determine the number and/or density of cells. In this review, we describe work on three different cell-density sensing systems used by Dictyostelium. The first involves a negative feedback loop in which two secreted signals inhibit cell proliferation during the growth phase. As the cell density increases, the concentrations of the secreted factors concomitantly increase, allowing the cells to sense their density. The two signals act as message authenticators for each other, and the existence of two different signals that require each other for activity may explain why previous efforts to identify autocrine proliferation-inhibiting signals in higher eukaryotes have generally failed. The second system involves a signal made by growing cells that is secreted only when they starve. This then allows cells to sense the density of just the starving cells, and is an example of a mechanism that allows cells in a tissue to sense the density of one specific cell type. The third cell density counting system involves cells in aggregation streams secreting a signal that limits the size of fruiting bodies. Computer simulations predicted, and experiments then showed, that the factor increases random cell motility and decreases cell-cell adhesion to cause streams to break up if there are too many cells in the stream. Together, studies on Dictyostelium cell density counting systems will help elucidate how higher eukaryotes regulate the size and composition of tissues.
Authors:
Richard H Gomer; Wonhee Jang; Derrick Brazill
Related Documents :
324224 - Phase microscope study of the giant cells from the normal testes of the indian hedgeho...
14535684 - Suicidal hangings in jail using telephone cords.
2460984 - Giant cell lesion of the jaw. case report.
427054 - Giant cell arteritis of the female genital tract.
17413564 - Cytoskeletal changes of mesenchymal stem cells during differentiation.
19515934 - Imaging individual micrornas in single mammalian cells in situ.
Publication Detail:
Type:  Journal Article; Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't; Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.; Review     Date:  2011-04-27
Journal Detail:
Title:  Development, growth & differentiation     Volume:  53     ISSN:  1440-169X     ISO Abbreviation:  Dev. Growth Differ.     Publication Date:  2011 May 
Date Detail:
Created Date:  2011-05-18     Completed Date:  2011-09-15     Revised Date:  2012-05-02    
Medline Journal Info:
Nlm Unique ID:  0356504     Medline TA:  Dev Growth Differ     Country:  Japan    
Other Details:
Languages:  eng     Pagination:  482-94     Citation Subset:  IM    
Copyright Information:
© 2011 The Authors. Development, Growth & Differentiation © 2011 Japanese Society of Developmental Biologists.
Affiliation:
Department of Biology, ILSB MS 3474, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843-3474, USA. rgomer@tamu.edu
Export Citation:
APA/MLA Format     Download EndNote     Download BibTex
MeSH Terms
Descriptor/Qualifier:
Cell Count*
Cell Proliferation
Cell Size*
Cyclic AMP / metabolism
Dictyostelium / cytology*
Protozoan Proteins / physiology
Quorum Sensing
Signal Transduction
Grant Support
ID/Acronym/Agency:
GM074990/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS; R01 GM074990-05/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS; RR03037/RR/NCRR NIH HHS; S06-GM606564/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS
Chemical
Reg. No./Substance:
0/Protozoan Proteins; 60-92-4/Cyclic AMP

From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine


Previous Document:  Identification of a novel HLA-DRB1*04:94N allele by polymerase chain reaction sequence-based typing.
Next Document:  Prognostic role of microRNA-21 in various carcinomas: a systematic review and Meta-analysis.