title: Cellular 'neoteny': a possible developmental basis for chromaffin cell plasticity.
abstract: Adrenal medullary chromaffin cells, SIF cells and sympathetic neurons are derived from the sympatho-adrenal sublineage of the neural crest, and represent a range of cellular phenotypes extending from endocrine to neuronal. It is suggested here that these cell types may represent different stages of developmental 'arrest' along a linear pathway whose endpoint is a cholinergic sympathetic neuron. This model explains the 'transdifferentiation' of mature cells seen in this system as simply a delayed realization of transitions that normally occur between these stages during development. Such a 'linear model' of phenotypic diversification may be applicable to other developing systems that generate closely related but distinct cell types.
authors.forename: D J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Anderson
mesh_terms: D000313:Adrenal Medulla / Q000166:cytology*; D000818:Animals; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D002837:Chromaffin Granules / Q000378:metabolism; D004702:Endocrine Glands / Q000166:cytology; D008959:Models, Neurological; D009432:Neural Crest / Q000166:cytology*; D009474:Neurons / Q000166:cytology*; D051381:Rats; D013564:Sympathetic Nervous System / Q000196:embryology*