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The mysterious power of cell proliferation: Why do some tissues magically expand?
The concept of cell proliferation (hyperplasia) comes from ancient Greek, where "ὑπέρ" means excess and "πλάσις" means formation. It is defined as the enlargement of an organ or tissue due to cell proliferation. Cell proliferation can not only lead to significant organ enlargement, but is sometimes confused with benign tumors. This phenomenon is often a normal physiological response to a certain stimulus, although in some cases, cell proliferation may also represent pathological changes.
The difference between cell proliferation and hypertrophy is that the former involves an increase in cell number, while the latter is an increase in cell volume.
Causes of cell proliferation
Cell proliferation occurs for a variety of reasons, including proliferation of the basal epidermis to compensate for skin loss, chronic inflammatory responses, endocrine disorders, or to replace damaged or diseased other tissues. Certain normal proliferative responses, such as the growth of breast gland cells during pregnancy, are preparations for future lactation.
Interestingly, growth factors such as insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) can trigger cell proliferation, which is actually cell division. At the same time, muscle training causes muscle cells to undergo hypertrophy, which is simply an increase in cell size. Research shows that the application of IGF may be able to increase the total number of muscle cells, not just their size. This is particularly significant because it means that through specific strength training, athletes can expect to increase the number of muscle fibers rather than the size of individual fibers.
Mechanism of proliferation
Physiological cell proliferation is a normal response to specific stimuli, and these proliferating cells are still affected by normal regulatory mechanisms. However, in pathological hyperplasia, if the reaction is due to an excess of hormones or growth factors, then the hyperplasia may become part of the pathological process.
The influence of pathological proliferation can sometimes become the basis for the development of tumor cells, which is obviously different from its completely different cell proliferation process.
Role in disease
Cell proliferation in certain tissues may lead to disease. Pathological growths may be triggered by infection, physical stress, trauma, or abnormal levels of certain hormones such as estrogen, ACTH, or cortisol. For example, benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) is a very common proliferative condition in men.
Types of cell proliferation
Some common clinical conditions of hyperplasia include:
- Benign prostatic hyperplasia, also known as prostate enlargement.
- Cushing's disease, which causes adrenal hyperplasia due to elevated ACTH levels.
- Congenital adrenal hyperplasia, an inherited glandular disorder.
- Endometrial hyperplasia, usually due to estrogen stimulation.
- Asymmetrical hemihyperplasia causes one side of the body to be affected and limbs to be of different lengths.
- Breast hyperplasia covers ordinary tubular hyperplasia and atypical tubular hyperplasia, the latter increasing the risk of breast cancer.
- Abnormal intimal hyperplasia may lead to endometrial cancer, demonstrating the potential for pathological hyperplasia to lead to tumor formation.
In summary, cell proliferation plays a crucial role in various physiological and pathological processes. Even in the medical community, the understanding and discussion of cell proliferation has never stopped, because it carries important information for promoting health and understanding diseases. However, is cell proliferation always a good thing?
