Cell Potency

Because the Moore lab focuses on stem cells and differentiation while aging, it was important for me to learn about cell potency, the ability of a cell to differentiate.

After an egg becomes a zygote, the first few embryonic stem cells (ESCs) which result of division are considered totipotent, meaning they can differentiate into anything, including the embryonic sac which isn't even considered part of the resultant offspring. However as this small group of cells continues dividing and a rough shape is formed, each cell is considered pluripotent, meaning they can differentiate into any type of cell that will be in the offspring. When the group of cells reaches this stage, they attach themselves to the uterine wall and become primed. When cells become primed, there is a transition in their transcription of DNA where segments that were previously transcribed are no longer transcribed, and the cells mature further into epiblastic cells which are considered to have slightly less pluripotency. After further divisions, a group of cells matures into neural stem cells (NSCs), and are considered multipotent. Multipotent cells can differentiate into any type of one variety of cells; NSCs must become neural cells, but they can become any type of neural cell. (See image)

Something researchers have noticed, is that only 60% of ESCs divide asymmetrically while 90% of NSCs divide asymmetrically, leaving some to wonder whether there is a correlation between potency and tendency to divide asymmetrically. One undergraduate student in the Moore lab manipulates the stages of stem cells in their potency to study this correlation.