Pluripotency in the broad sense refers to "having more than one potential outcome". In biological systems, this can refer either to cells or to biological compounds. Drawing of the structure of cork as it appeared under the microscope to Robert Hook from Micrographia which is the origin of the word cell. Cells in culture, stained for keratin (red) and DNA (green). ...

Pluripotent (cell biology)

In cell biology, the definition of pluripotency has come to refer to a stem cell that has the potential to differentiate 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 placenta. Embryonic stem cells differentiate into cells in various body organs. ... Organs derived from each germ layer. ... The placenta is an ephemeral (temporary) organ present in female placental vertebrates during gestation (pregnancy), but a placenta has evolved independently also in other animals as well, for instance scorpions and velvet worms. ...

In contrast, many progenitor cells are multipotent, i.e. they are capable of differentiating into a limited number of cell fates. Progenitor cells arise from division of stem cells but are limited in the number of cell division cycles they can go through. ... Multipotent progenitor cells can give rise to several other cell types, but those types are limited in number. ...

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 immunology 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) antigens in a general anti-viral response. In B lymphocytes (B cells) it stimulates antibody class switching, and in Natural Killer (NK) cells this protein hormone stimulates maturation. In macrophages it activates intracellular killing. Immunology is a broad branch of biomedical science that covers the study of all aspects of the immune system in all organisms. ... Cytokines are small protein molecules that are the core of communication between immune system cells, and even between immune system cells and cells belonging to other tissue types. ... Interferon-gamma or IFN-g is a dimerized soluble cytokine which is a Type II Interferon. ... MHC I (1hsa) vs MHC II (1dlh) (more details. ... B cells are lymphocytes that play a large role in the humoral immune response (as opposed to the cell-mediated immune response). ... Natural NK cells are cytotoxic; small granules in their cytoplasm contain special proteins such as perforin and proteases known as granzymes. ... In cell biology, molecular biology and related fields, the word intracellular means inside the cell. It is used in contrast to extracellular (outside the cell). ...

See also

• Stem cell