A term implying irreversible loss of the specialized properties that a cell would have expressed in vivo. As evidence accumulates that cultures "dedifferentiate" by a combination of selection of undifferentiated cells or stromal cells and deadaptation resulting from the absence of the appropriate inducers, this term is going out of favor. It is still correctly applied to progressive loss of differentiated morphology in histological observations of, for example, tumor tissue.
The process of inducing a specialised cell to revert towards pluripotency.
The mechanism by which cells of some animals (newts, etc.) revert back to an undifferentiated state. Researchers are attempting to replicate the process in humans.
Dedifferentiation is a cellular process commonly believed to be uniquely available to lower life forms such as worms and amphibians in which a partially or terminally differentiated cell reverts to an earlier developmental stage.
