title: Plasticity in the Adult: How Should the Waddington Diagram Be Applied to Regenerating Tissues?
abstract: Conrad Waddington's eponymous 1957 diagram provided a metaphorical framework for considering how sequential developmental fate decisions allow an egg to develop into an embryo. In recent years, the Waddington diagram has been repurposed to illustrate how cellular identity changes in the context of reprogramming. In this Perspective, we revisit the Waddington diagram in light of the emerging recognition that plasticity is part and parcel of adult regeneration. Specifically, we speculate that the "epigenetic landscapes" that define identity in adult tissues are dynamic, facilitating cellular de-differentiation and trans-differentiation in the setting of injury.
authors.affiliation: Center for Regenerative Medicine and the Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Stem Cell Institute, Boston, MA 02114, USA. Electronic address: jrajagopal@mgh.harvard.edu.
authors.forename: Jayaraj
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rajagopal
authors.affiliation: Departments of Medicine and Cell and Developmental Biology, The Institute for Regenerative Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA. Electronic address: bstanger@exchange.upenn.edu.
authors.forename: Ben Z
authors.initials: BZ
authors.lastname: Stanger
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000502:physiology*; D000066670:Cell Plasticity / Q000502:physiology*; D044127:Epigenesis, Genetic / Q000235:genetics*; D057890:Epigenomics / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D008957:Models, Genetic; D014945:Wound Healing / Q000502:physiology*