DIFFERENTIATION

[epicionado]

Hi,
I am looking for some basic information about differentiation in general.

Do cells actively divide during the differentiation process? I mean, when a progenitor cell is activated (by antigen or some other stimuli), do they keep dividing during the various stages of differentiation?
I would appreciate help on this. If you know of any good review, I would love to check it out.

Thanks

[MrMistery]

Generally no, but it might depend on a cell. If a B cell is triggered into differentiating (the process of maturation) then it can later become a plasma cell, whose sole purpose in life is to divide and make antibodies. But the division is not part of the maturation - the cell is already mature when it divides.

However, as a rule of thumb, differentiation is the structural specialization of the cell to better fulfill a function or another. I don't think this definition can include any type of cell division.