Asymmetric cell division regulates the transcriptional balance controlling memory fate decisions in T cells.

Abstract

The asymmetric cell division is an evolutionary acquisition strategy of multicellular organisms that enable the pluripotent cells to produce two daughter cells with distinct cellular fates. This characteristic is responsible for originating all the embryonic leaflets and tissues of the Metazoan Phyla in which stem cells divide asymmetrically to give rise to two different daughter cells, one preserving the original stem cell pluripotency (self-renewal) and the other daughter, committed to a further differentiation program, into specialized cell types with non-stem cell fate (1). The mechanisms through which the asymmetric cell divisions are conferred to dividing daughter cells are inherently acquired at the time of division of the mother cell. In multicellular organisms, this response is triggered by the polarization of the mother cell and the consequent alignment of the mitotic spindle with the axis of polarity during mitotic division (1).