Today we are pleased to release another image to the public domain regarding cell plasticity.
With plasticity we intend the ability of stem cells from a particular tissue to generate different cell types, specific of another tissue.
CC by 2.0
made by @pab.ink and commissioned by @davinci.witness
Usually stem cells can assume traits of other cells that derive from the same germ layer, for example bone marrow is a mesodermal derivative, and its stem cells can differentiate into other mesodermally derived tissues such as skeletal muscle, cardiac muscle or liver.
However, it was found that stem cells can also differentiate into cells typical of different germ layers. For example, the same bone marrow stem cells (derived from the mesoderm) can differentiate into neural tissue which usually derives from the embryonic ectoderm.
Please note: SteemStem and the artist that made this drawing are set as beneficiary of this post, by voting this post you will support this initiative and help us releasing more images to the public domain.