| 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) |
| cell division | The separation of one cell into two daughter cells, involving both nuclear division (mitosis) and subsequent cytoplasmic division (cytokinesis). (18 Nov 1997) |
| cell division cycle gene | Genes which control the yeast cell cycle. There are around 50 different genes which do this. (09 Oct 1997) |
| cell division cycle mutant | A yeast cell which has cell division cycle genes that have mutated to become sensitive to temperature, at certain temperatures (usually high ones), various parts of the normal yeast cell cycle become abnormal, and in some strains the yeast cell does not survive at all. (09 Oct 1997) |
| adult T-cell leukaemia | Lymph nodes show a mixture of small and large atypical cells which are polymorphic and express nuclear pleiomorphism. Adult T-cell leukaemia is caused by HTLV-1 and is rare in the US and Europe but common in Japan. Tumour cells express CD2, CD3, CD5 and lack CD7. The most common chromosome change reported in adult T-cell leukaemia is presence of the 14q + marker (05 Mar 2000) |
|---|---|
| adult T-cell lymphoma | <tumour> An acute or subacute disease associated with a human T-cell virus, with lymphadenopathy, hepatosplenomegaly, skin lesions, peripheral blood involvement, and hypercalcaemia. Synonym: adult T-cell leukaemia. (05 Mar 2000) |
| adventitial cell | <pathology> Cell associated with the walls of small blood vessels: not a smooth muscle cell, nor an endothelial cell. (18 Nov 1997) |
| african green monkey kidney cell | <cell culture> Cells taken from the kidneys of the African green monkey Cercopithecus aethiops sabaeus and used to grow certain viruses like poliovirus. (05 Feb 1998) |
| air cell | 1. <botany> A cavity in the cellular tissue of plants, containing air only. 2. <anatomy> A receptacle of air in various parts of the system; as, a cell or minute cavity in the walls of the air tubes of the lungs; the air sac of birds; a dilatation of the air vessels in insects. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| albuminous cell | A cell, especially of the salivary gland, that secretes a watery or thin albuminous fluid, as opposed to a mucous cell. Synonym: albuminous cell. (05 Mar 2000) |
| algoid cell | A cell appearing like cell's of algae, sometimes found in chronic diarrhoea. (05 Mar 2000) |
| alpha cell | <biology> A type of cell in the pancreas (in areas called the islets of Langerhans). Alpha cells make and release a hormone called glucagon, which raises the level of glucose (sugar) in the blood. (09 Oct 1997) |
| alveolar cell | Cell of the air sac of the lung. (18 Nov 1997) |
| alveolar cell carcinoma | <tumour> A carcinoma, thought to be derived from epithelium of terminal bronchioles, in which the neoplastic tissue extends along the alveolar walls and grows in small masses within the alveoli; involvement may be uniformly diffuse and massive, or nodular, or lobular; microscopically, the neoplastic cells are cuboidal or columnar and form papillary structures; mucin may be demonstrated in some of the cells and in the material in the alveoli, which also includes denuded cells; metastases in regional lymph nodes, and even in more distant sites, are known to occur, but are infrequent. Synonym: alveolar cell carcinoma, bronchiolar adenocarcinoma, bronchiolo-alveolar carcinoma, bronchioloalveolar adenocarcinoma. (05 Mar 2000) |
| amacrine cell | <cell biology> A class of neuron of the middle layer of the retina, with processes parallel to the plane of the retina. They are thought to be involved in image processing. (18 Nov 1997) |
| ameboid cell | A cell such as a leukocyte, having ameboid movements, with a power of locomotion. Synonym: wandering cell. Synonym: migratory cell. (05 Mar 2000) |
| amphotropic packaging cell lines | <cell culture, molecular biology> Clonal entities that express genes or act as viral vectors that infect cell lines to stably infect and then express genes of choice. Usually an amphotropic virus. (04 Nov 1997) |
| anaemia, sickle cell | A disease characterised by chronic haemolytic anaemia, episodic painful crises, and pathologic involvement of many organs. It is the clinical expression of homozygosity for haemoglobin s. (12 Dec 1998) |
| anaplastic cell | A cell that has reverted to an embryonal state, an undifferentiated cell, characteristic of malignant neoplasms. (05 Mar 2000) |