Sending mixed messages for cell population control.

Youk, Hyun; Lim, Wendell A · Cell · 2014

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

Cells often receive signals to proliferate, but how population density is controlled is unclear. Hart et al. now show that a single secreted molecule that instructs both proliferation and death in T cells establishes a bistable response: the population is driven to either extinction or to a homeostatically defined density.

Medical subject headings