Asymmetric division is one of the most fundamental characteristics of adult stem cells , which ensures one daughter cell maintains stem cell status and the other daughter cell becomes committed to differentiation. New data emerged recently that allow us to conclude that asymmetric division has another important aspect: it enables self-maintenance of stem cells.

objective: human basic fibroblast growth factor (bfgf) plays an important role in cellular proliferation, embryonic development, and angiogenesis as well as in several signaling pathways of various cell types. bfgf is an essential growth factor for the maintenance of undifferentiated human embryonic stem cells (hescs) and human induced pluripotent stem cells (hipscs). materials and methods: in ...