title: Symmetry breaking in stem cells of the basal metazoan Hydra.
abstract: Among the earliest diverging animal phyla are the Cnidaria. Cnidaria were not only first in evolution having a tissue layer construction and a nervous system but also have cells of remarkable plasticity in their differentiation capacity. How a cell chooses to proliferate or to differentiate is an important issue in stem cell biology and as critical to human stem cells as it is to any other stem cell. Here I revise the key properties of stem cells in the freshwater polyp Hydra with special emphasis on the nature of signals that control the growth and differentiation of these cells.
authors.affiliation: Zoological Institute, Christian-Albrechts-University Kiel, Olshausenstrasse 40, 24098 Kiel, Germany. tbosch@zoologie.uni-kiel.de
authors.forename: Thomas C G
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Bosch
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D030801:Animals, Genetically Modified; D051792:Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D005075:Biological Evolution; D019521:Body Patterning; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000502:physiology*; D004847:Epithelial Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology; D025461:Feedback, Physiological; D006801:Humans; D006829:Hydra / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology; D009024:Morphogenesis; D009474:Neurons / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology; D019899:Paracrine Communication; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000502:physiology; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D051792:Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Proteins