Sending mixed messages for cell population control

Hyun Youk; Wendell A Lim

doi:10.1016/j.cell.2014.08.013

Sending mixed messages for cell population control

Cell. 2014 Aug 28;158(5):973-975. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2014.08.013.

Authors

Hyun Youk¹, Wendell A Lim²

Affiliations

¹ Center for Systems and Synthetic Biology, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA; Department of Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA.
² Center for Systems and Synthetic Biology, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA; Department of Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA; Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA. Electronic address: wendell.lim@ucsf.edu.

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.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Comment

MeSH terms

Animals
CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / cytology*
Female
Interleukin-2 / metabolism*
Models, Biological*
Signal Transduction*

Substances

Interleukin-2

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

Substances

Grants and funding