An immature cell in the bone marrow which is responsible for producing mature blood cells.
An immature cell in the marrow that can be isolated by growing suspensions of marrow cells in culture dishes with added growth factors. Depending on the factors added, one can identify progenitors of each blood cell limeage by the appearance of the colonies of cells that proliferate from a single progenitor cell. Progenitor cells are referred to as colony-forming units or cells, CFU or CFC. The specific lineage is indicated by a suffix, such as CFU-E(erythrocytic), CFU-eo (eosinophilic), CFU-meg (megakaryocytic), etc. The progenitors mature into precursors that mature into blood cells.
Stem cell with more specialization and less differentiation potential than a totipotent stem cell
An intermediate cell en route to fully differentiated cells characteristic of a particular tissue or organ.
Any type of cell that spawns other cells.
A parent cell that gives rise to a distinct cell lineage by a series of cell divisions.
This is a cell that comes from stem cells, but it can no longer multiply and exist indefinitely. This cell can still grow into many kinds of cells in the body, but it can’t renew itself. This type of cell is often confused with a stem cell. A progenitor cell is more limited in the kinds of cells it can become than a stem cell. Progenitor cells have begun developing into a specialized cell and have progressed too far to be considered an adult stem cell.
Often confused with stem cell, this is an early descendant of a stem cell that can only differentiate, but cannot renew itself anymore. In contrast, a stem cell can renew itself (make more stem cells by cell division) or it can differentiate (divide and with each cell division evolve more and more into different types of cells). A progenitor cell is often more limited in the kinds of cells it can become. In scientific terms, it is said that progenitor cells are more differentiated than stem cells.
The term progenitor cell is used in cell biology and developmental biology to refer to immature or undifferentiated cells, typically found in post-natal animals. While progenitor cells share many common features with stem cells, the term is far less restrictive.