| cell bridges | Slender cytoplasmic strands connecting adjacent cells; in histological sections of the epidermis and other stratified squamous epithelia, the bridge's are processes attached by a desmosome and are shrinkage artifacts of fixation; true bridge's with cytoplasmic confluence exist between incompletely divided germ cells. Synonym: cell bridges, cytoplasmic bridges. (05 Mar 2000) |
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| cell centre | Microtubule organising centre of the cell, the pericentriolar region. (18 Nov 1997) |
| cell cloning | The process of producing a group of cells (clones), all genetically identical, from a single ancestral cell. (12 Dec 1998) |
| cell communication | Any of several ways in which living cells of an organism communicate with one another, whether by direct contact between cells or by means of chemical signals carried by neurotransmitter substances, hormones, and cyclic AMP. (12 Dec 1998) |
| cell compartmentation | A partitioning within cells due to the selectively permeable membranes which enclose each of the separate parts, e.g., mitochondria, lysosomes, etc. (12 Dec 1998) |
| cell count | A count of the number of cells of a specific kind, usually measured per unit volume of sample. (12 Dec 1998) |
| cell culture | General term referring to the maintenance of cell strains or lines in the laboratory. (18 Nov 1997) |
| cell cycle | <cell biology, molecular biology> The sequence of events between mitotic divisions. The cycle is conventionally divided into G0, G1, (G standing for gap), S (synthesis phase during which the DNA is replicated), G2 and M (mitosis). Cells that will not divide again are considered to be in G0 and the transition from G0 to G1 is thought to commit the cell to completing the cycle and dividing. (26 Mar 1998) |
| cell cycle proteins | Proteins that control the cell division cycle. This family of proteins includes a wide variety of classes, including cyclin-dependent kinases, mitogen-activated kinases, cyclins, and phosphoprotein phosphatases (phosphoprotein phosphatase) as well as their putative substrates such as chromatin-associated proteins, cytoskeletal proteins, and transcription factors. (12 Dec 1998) |
| cell cycle restriction point | <cell biology, molecular biology> A point, late in G1, after which the cell must, normally, proceed through to division at its standard rate. (26 Mar 1998) |
| cell death | <cell biology> Cells die (nonaccidentally) either when they have completed a fixed number of division cycles (around 60, the Hayflick limit) or at some earlier stage when programmed to do so, as in digit separation in vertebrate limb morphogenesis. Whether this is due to an accumulation of errors or a programmed limit is unclear, some transformed cells have undoubtedly escaped the limit. See: apoptosis. (26 Mar 1998) |
| cell degranulation | The process of losing cytoplasmic granules. This occurs in mast cells, basophils, neutrophils, eosinophils, and platelets when secretory products are released from the granules. (12 Dec 1998) |
| cell determination | The process by which embryonic cells, previously undifferentiated, take on a specific developmental character. Although the mechanism is not fully understood, homeotic proteins coded for by certain gene sequences (the homeobox) appear to trigger the process. Genes for homeotic proteins show remarkable similarity among species. See: morphogenesis, induction, evocator. (05 Mar 2000) |
| cell differentiation | Progressive restriction of the developmental potential and increasing specialization of function which takes place during the development of the embryo and leads to the formation of specialised cells, tissues, and organs. (12 Dec 1998) |
| cell disruption | <technique> The procedures used to get genetically engineered products out of the cells in which they are produced. These procedures may be mechanical, resulting in cell breakage, or depend upon cell lysis, which is caused by adding lysozyme or solvents that affect the cell membrane, or antibiotics or antimetabolites that disrupt or disorganize cell wall growth. (26 Mar 1998) |