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The proliferation rate of various cell types in vitro, including hepatoma Fao cells, displays aperiodic oscillations. The frequency of these oscillations is about one every 3–5 weeks, and there are variations in cell functions and polarity. Topological analysis has showed that these oscillations in growth rate are determined, and presumably chaotic. One characteristic of complex chaotic systems is that their dynamics can be persistently modified by a small external perturbation. We show that treatment with a single small dose of the anticancer drug methotrexate causes long-term stable alteration of the oscillatory dynamics of Fao cell proliferation. The oscillations of growth rate are shifted, and their mean level decreased according to a fractal pattern.

Clinical and experimental observations indicate that resistance to anticancer drugs may be spontaneously reversible over time, but the mechanisms of this reversal are unknown. The resistance of cultured hepatoma cells to methotrexate (MTX) and cisplatin was followed for 9 months. Cells were exposed to three treatments: MTX 200 nM for 24 h or 15 nM continuously and cisplatin 50 microM for 2 h. We investigated the relation between the temporal pattern of cell resistance and the previously reported fluctuations in cell proliferation rate, telomere length and telomerase activity. Spontaneous major peaks in resistance to each drug fell in time windows of 2-3 months (60-70 population doublings) and were at different times for each drug. The frequency of the fluctuations in drug resistance was the same as that of variations in cell growth rate, but amplitudes were unrelated. By contrast, resistance was directly related to telomere length dynamics in the same cells. MTX resistance occurred when telomeres shortened and cisplatin resistance when they were elongated. Furthermore, peaks of resistance to the continuous treatment with MTX were observed at 350-bp intervals of mean telomere length (9.06, 9.41, and 9.76 kbp) during the two 2-month phases of telomere shortening. Statistical analysis demonstrates the sinusoidal relationship between intermittent MTX resistance and telomere length. Possibly, erosion of telomeres encroaches on periodically spaced nucleosomal proteins, defining the onset of resistance phases. This evidence that resistance of tumoral cells to anticancer drugs may be intermittent and that onset of resistance is dictated by telomere length has major implications for clinical practice.

Non-linear dynamics, often chaotic, are now accepted as the normal way in which major physiological functions proceed, allowing adaptation. The length of telomeres, the chromosome endings, is critical in limiting cell lifespan and in controlling subsets of downstream genes. Telomere length dynamics in tumoral cells is the net result of mitotic erosion of telomeric DNA and telomere repair by the enzyme telomerase. We observed telomere length oscillations in the long-lived hepatoma Fao cell line, for forty three 6-day passages in culture. Telomerase activity oscillated with similar frequency and opposite amplitude. We mapped the combined data of telomere erosion and telomerase activity. There was reverse symmetry between consecutive periods of 10 passages. Thus, telomere length and telomerase activity can be considered to be a single complex system with strong reciprocal regulation.

There is growing evidence that senescent cells accumulate in vivo and are associated with the aging process in parallel with the progressive erosion of telomeres. Because recent data show that telomere shortening is involved in the pathogenesis of liver cirrhosis, we looked for replicative senescence cells in normal livers, chronic hepatitis C, and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Replicative senescent cells were detected on liver tissue cryosections using expression of a specific marker, senescence-associated beta-galactosidase, a cytoplasmic enzyme detected at pH 6. A total of 57 frozen liver samples (15 normal liver, 32 chronic hepatitis C, and 10 HCCs) were studied. Replicative senescence was graded as absent in 56% of cases (32 of 57) and present in 44% (25 of 57). Replicative senescence was considered present in 3 of 15 normal livers (20%), 16 of 32 chronic hepatitis cases (50%), and 6 of 10 HCCs (60%). In the group of nontumoral livers, the presence of senescent cells in liver was associated with older age (P =.03). In the group with chronic hepatitis C, fibrosis stage, but not activity grade, was significantly correlated with the accumulation of replicative senescent cells (P

Immortal cells perpetuate the rises and falls of proliferation that are progressively damped in mortal long-term cultured cells. For immortal rat hepatoma Fao cells, similar waves of proliferation occurred about every 3–4 wk. Under the same conditions, embryonic human fibroblasts and transformed but not immortalized embryonic fibroblasts display similarly recurring proliferation waves that progressively decrease in amplitude until senescence of the lines. In addition, strains of diploid normal human skin fibroblasts cultured under different culture conditions display a similar time-pattern of proliferation. Although the amplitude and baseline of these fluctuations are characteristic for each cell line, a common point was marked slow down in proliferation after every sequence of about 25 population doublings for all cells. Renewed proliferation waves of Fao cells allow about 22–23 additional population doublings each. Normal embryonic fibroblasts culture and its transformed counterpart accumulate about 30 and 60 population doublings, respectively, before senescence. Normal fibroblast strains accumulate about 25 population doublings over their entire life spans. This halt in proliferation after every stretch of about 25 population doublings may correspond to a structural or functional stop following attrition of telomeric DNA. This putative stop may be bypassed once in transformed embryonic cells and repetitively in immortal cells. In support of this hypothesis, we observed rapid telomere shortening, in two steps, during divisions of mortal embryonic cells, and maintenance of long telomeres in immortal Fao cells, which may indicate episodic repair of telomeres. Alternatively, such maintenance of long telomeres may reflect survival and successive clonal growth of rare cells with long telomeres. We suggest that the balance between telomere attribution and repair processes regulates the waves of proliferation.

Partial copper depletion of a variant rathepatoma cell line induces a transient inhibition ofgrowth and the genesis of stable, well-differentiatedrevertants. We report a burst of cell death, synchronous with the peak of reversion. The characteristicsof this cell mortality were typical of apoptosis andincluded detachment from the plastic support, chromatincondensation and fragmentation, and internucleosomal DNA degradation. Although commitment to celldeath was induced by copper deficiency, the apoptoticprocess was partially inhibited as assessed fromelectrophoretic patterns of DNA degradation.Redifferentiation was closely linked to the apoptotic deathprogram. Analysis of rescued detached cells in all threemedia (standard, Cu-, Fe-)indicated that the frequency of revertants wassignificantly higher among floating as opposed to adherent cell populations.Nevertheless, experimental copper depletion increased by104 times the revertant frequency amongadherent cells. We propose that redifferentiation of thevariant hepatoma cells (and concomitant recovery oftumorigenicity) is determined by the gene expressionpattern of programmed cell death.

International audience; Although peroxisomes are ubiquitous, differences in the number of organelles and in the expression of associated metabolic activities are observed, depending on the cell type. To investigate the control of peroxisomal activity in connection with cell differentiation, we constructed hybrids between two types of cells whose histogenetic origins dictate significant differences in peroxisomal activities: hepatoma cells and fibroblasts, with high and low expression, respectively, of peroxisomal functions. In these hybrids, extinction of the elevated activities that characterize liver cells is observed, in parallel with the well-documented extinction of differentiated functions. This suggests the existence in fibroblasts of a negative trans-acting regulation.

Gambogic acid (GA), a natural xanthone, has a wide spectrum of pharmacological activities, including repression of telomerase expression and induction of apoptosis of cancer cells. GA has also been reported to reduce the steady-state level of thymidylate synthetase mRNA in a gastric carcinoma cell line. Therefore, it has recently emerged as a candidate for use in cancer treatment. Using hepatoma cells with a dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) gene amplification and cells transfected with an inducible DHFR transgene, we observed a negative relationship between DHFR expression and resistance to GA. Furthermore, DHFR assays in vitro indicated that in the presence of GA, DHFR activity was slightly inhibited and the affinity of the enzyme for dihydrofolate was markedly decreased. Treatment of rat hepatoma and other human and murine cancer cell lines with methotrexate and GA revealed that the two drugs displayed a marked synergistic lethal effect.

A human fibroblastic cell line transformed by the SV40-T antigen sequence and continuously cultured for 7 months displayed large periodic variations in cell proliferation. This contrasted with other characteristics of this cell line that remained constant: mosaic cell shape, absence of cell contact inhibition, and predominance of a hypodiploid population. Similar fluctuations in proliferative capacity were also found during the long-term growth of a transformed but nonimmortalized human fibroblastic line prior to senescence, and in the established hamster fibroblastic Nil cell line. This growth pattern suggests a recurrent stimulation of growth in these three transformed cell lines. The proliferation pattern from cultured transformed cells may thus be complex and requires further investigation. These variations presumably influence major cell functions. This observation has important implications for the analysis of data from such cell lines.

A system based on the ability of cells to oxidize very long-chain fatty acids (VLCFA) was developed to select in vitro normal human fibroblasts from fibroblasts of patients suffering from peroxisomal disorders with multienzymatic deficiencies: Zellweger syndrome, neonatal adrenoleukodystrophy, infantile Refsum disease (IRD). Cells treated with various concentrations of erucic acid (C22:1 n-9) revealed an enhanced toxicity of this fatty acid for the fibroblasts of patients compared with normal cells. This differential toxicity is correlated with variable accumulations of C22:1 n-9 and the absence of beta-oxidation products in the mutants. Revertants from clonal IRD cell lines were isolated in the selective medium at frequencies ranging from 3 x 10(-7) to 4 x 10(-6) depending on the line. After six weeks of growth in the absence of selective pressure, the variants exhibited a resistance level to C22:1 n-9 identical to that of normal cells. Furthermore, beta-oxidation of VLCFA is re-established in these selected cells as well as dihydroxyacetone phosphate acyltransferase activity. Immunoblot experiments also demonstrated a restored pattern of acyl-CoA oxidase molecular forms. Last, immunofluorescence studies revealed the presence of cytoplasmic structures that were absent in the original IRD cells. Thus, both the deficiencies in metabolic pathways and paucity of the organelle are at least partially corrected in the selected clones.

Taking advantage of the poolymorphism created by the presence or the absence of aLINE-1 repeat in intron 12 of the mouse serum albumin-encoding gene, we sequenced the repeat (Alb-L1Md), as well as the flanking regions in BALB/c DNA. The empty insertion site in a wild-type mouse of the same species Mus domesticus was amplified using PCR and sequenced. The Alb-L1Md was truncated at its 5′ end and bordered by two 14-bp repeats, which represented the duplication of the empty insertion site. The absence of mutations in the two direct repeats as well as in the poly(dA) tail suggests that the Alb-L1Md sequence had been inserted very recently. On the basis of the insertion sequence of nitron 12 and of the sequence of the consensus L1Md repeat, 5′ of the insertion, we discuss a model of integration of full-length L1Md-RNA leading to the truncation of the inserted repeat.

Dynamique cellulaire et modélisation; Telomerase is a multimolecular complex of reverse transcriptase, RNA template, and regulatory proteins. It has two known functions: catalysis of the addition of [TTAGGG] repeats to telomeric DNA and the activation of various genes controlling cell proliferation. The possible coordination of these two functions is a key issue in understanding the growth of cancer cells. We report long-term changes to this complex system, as shown by specific data analysis methods. We show that the dynamics of the two functions of telomerase are tightly linked, with a change in predominant function every 13-14 weeks. The conservative behavior of this dynamic system probably accounts for the persistent proliferation of cancer cells.

Clinical and experimental observations indicate that resistance to anticancer drugs may be spontaneously reversible over time.This work is a mathematical and statistical analysis of the relationship, during a 9-month experiment, between the resistance of repeatedly re-seeded hepatoma cells to methotrexate (MTX) or to cisplatin (cisP) and untreated cell proliferation, telomere length and telomerase activity.All variables showed complex oscillations, as previously published. In this work, cell proliferation was modelized by the logistic model, and the proliferation rates (a-values) together with their variations (va-values) were calculated.Significant correlations were discovered between cell resistance to treatments and a-values, va-values, telomere length and telomerase activities. These results open new insights into the handling of chemotherapy in the treatment of cancers.

Objective The production of blood cells in vivo, both normal and tumoral, displays oscillatory dynamics. Many cells in long-term cultures also show large amplitude oscillations of proliferative rate. Therefore we examined the proliferation dynamics of mouse bone marrow cells (MBM) and their clonogenic progenitor production (BMP), in order to characterize these dynamics. Methods Five Dexter-type cultures of MBM cells and their clonogenic BMP production were examined for up to seven-months periods of time. The recorded time series exhibited a complex pattern of oscillations with variable amplitudes. We previously reported a method that allowed analysis of such nonlinear dynamics of hepatoma cell proliferation. We applied this method, based on the two-dimensional recurrent representation of data, to analyze the fluctuations of bone marrow cells proliferation. Results The proliferation rate of mouse bone marrow cells shows large amplitude oscillations every 2 to 3 weeks. Mathematical analysis revealed a deterministic mechanism that controls all proliferation local maxima of MBM cells. Dynamics for progenitor production resembled that of parental cells. This reflects a predominant negative feedback on bone marrow cell proliferation. Conclusion These dynamics were opposite of that previously described for hepatoma cells where the dominant control is applied to the local minima (troughs of proliferation). Therefore, the complex system of cell proliferation is controlled by a bipolar mechanism, with a predominant dampening command depending on the cell type. We propose that the dominant dampening control of local maxima in bone marrow cells protects the stock of stem cells.

Copper deficiency imposed on a variant rat hepatoma cell line inhibits cell growth and results in genesis of stable well‐differentiated, tumorigenic revertants. The treatment caused a substantial increase in DNA content (up to 20%) of G1 and G2/M cells and inhibition of cell proliferation. This phenomenon was correlated with an enhancement of DNA replication. The excess DNA was unstable and rapidly lost with reinitiation of cell growth and mitosis. Minute and double‐minute extrachromosomal material was detected by metaphase analysis, suggesting widespread DNA amplification in copper‐deficient conditions. Although transitory, these genetic events were associated with genesis of drug‐resistant cells and induction of tumorigenicity of the variant hepatoma cells. The data reveal a novel aspect of the consequences of trace element deficiency.

HALF1 (human activator of liver function 1) is a closed DNA duplex implicated in reversion of rat dedifferentiated C2 hepatoma cells to a well-differentiated state. A copy of HALF1 is found in high-molecular-weight DNA in the human genome. The genomic equivalent of HALF1 and its flanking sequences [gH(5'-3') fragment] have previously been cloned and sequenced. To analyze the ability of the gH(5'-3') fragment to induce reversion process of C2 cells, two series of transfections were performed: (1) cotransfection of gH(5'-3') and plasmid pSVneo1 and (2) transfection of gH(5'-3') inserted into pSVneo1. The frequency of reversion was enhanced in transfected cells from the first experiment whereas no revertants were obtained from transfected cells in the second one. DNA analysis of the revertant clones revealed that reversion is associated with the transient presence of nonintegrated gH(5'-3') molecules. C2 cells were also transfected with gH(5'-3') cloned in pSV2dhfr. In the products of this transfection, the genesis of revertants correlated with amplification process of the gH(5'-3') sequence. We conclude that the presence of integrated copies of gH(5'-3'), even in high copy number, is not sufficient to induce the reversion process. We propose that extrachromosomal forms of gH(5'-3'), either given to cells or formed during amplification cycles, are involved in the reversion process of C2 cells.

The genomic fragment carrying the human activator of liver function, previously described as an episome capable of inducing differentiation upon transfection into a dedifferentiated rat hepatoma cell line, was mapped on human chromosome 12q24.2-12q24.3. This chromosomal location was indistinguishable by in situ hybridization from that of the gene coding for the hepatic transcription factor HNF1. The sequence of the integrated form of the episome as well as its flanking sequences show that it is rich in retroposons. It contains a human ribosomal protein L21 processed pseudogene, one truncated L1Hs sequence, and 10 Alu repeats, which belong to different subfamilies.

International audience; Alagille syndrome (AGS) is a well-defined genetic entity assigned to the short arm of Chromosome (Chr) 20 by a series of observations of AGS patients associated with microdeletions in this region. By fusing lymphoblastoid cells of an AGS patient that exhibited a microdeletion in the short arm of Chr 20 encompassing bands p11.23 to p12.3 with rodent thermosensitive mutant cells (CHOtsH1-1) deficient in-leucyl-tRNA synthetase, we isolated a somatic cell hybrid segregating the deleted human Chr 20. This hybrid clone, designated NR2, was characterized by several methods, including PCR, with eight pairs of oligonucleotides mapped to Chr 20: D20S5, D20S41, D20S42, D20S56, D20S57, D20S58, adenosine deaminase (ADA), and Prion protein (PRIP); Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (RFLP) analyses with four genomic anonymous probes (D20S5, cD3H12, D20S17, D20S18); and fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) with total human DNA and D20Z1, a sequence specific to the human Chr 20 centromere, as probes. The NR2 hybrid allowed us to exclude three candidate genes for AGS: hepatic nuclear factor 3 beta (HNF3 beta), paired box 1 (PAX1), and cystatin C (CST3) as shown by their localization outside of the deletion. The NR2 hybrid is a powerful tool for the mapping of new probes of this region, as well as for obtaining new informative probes specific for the deletion by subtractive cloning of the region. Such markers will be useful for linkage analysis and screening of cDNA libraries.

The expression of a mouse serum albumin (MSA) gene introduced into differentiated and dedifferentiated variant cells of a rat hepatoma line depends on the overall differentiated state of the recipient cell. Thus, the transcription rate of this mouse gene is very high in differentiated cells compared to that in the variant. Furthermore, the activation of its expression is observed during the course of reversion of the variant cell. In well-differentiated hybrids between the variant and cells of the original line, the expression of the MSA gene depends on the phenotype of the transfected parental cell: transcription of this foreign gene is detected only in hybrids in which it was initially integrated into the genome of the differentiated parent. Gene dosage effects are not involved as the copy number of the MSA gene is identical in both types of transfected cells. These results demonstrate that the establishment of the liver phenotype in differentiated hybrids and revertants is due to different mechanisms.

In a study of the regulation of gene expression in liver cells, a strain of dedifferentiated cells (C2) derived from the rat hepatoma line H4IIEC3 was transfected with DNA from human liver. After growth of these C2 variants in a glucose-free medium, revertants were selected which were characterized by the expression of a complete set of liver functions. A 4.3 kb human DNA sequence was detected with an Alu sequence probe in cells of four independent revertant clones and was shown to be an extrachromosomal, covalently closed duplex DNA. This molecule, called HALF1 for reversion inducing sequence, was cloned and transfected into C2 cells. Analyses of the transfectants indicated a correlation between the introduction of this cloned genomic human DNA sequence and the recovery of hepatic traits.

Expression of the enzymes galactokinase, thymidine kinase, and O6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase is occasionally coordinately regulated in human cell lines. We have measured the activities of these three enzymes in extracts of fibroblasts from individuals with hereditary galactokinase deficiency. These cells do not express measurable galactokinase activity. The levels of O6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase were in the normal range in cells from three galactokinase-deficient individuals. The activity of thymidine kinase in the affected cells was in the normal range for two of the three individuals. The reduced thymidine kinase activity in the third individual reflected the extremely poor growth of the cells in culture. Immortalization of one galactokinase-deficient cell line resulted in loss of O6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase activity, but the galactokinase and thymidine kinase levels remained unchanged. The data indicate that the loss of galactokinase activity in these individuals is the consequence of an alteration of gene expression which does not involve coordinate silencing with the thymidine kinase and methyltransferase loci.

A cross has been performed between dedifferentiated rat hepatoma cells and the differentiated cells from which they were derived. 10 hybrid clones, containing the complete chromosome sets of both parents, show extinction of 4 liver-specific enzymes: tyrosine aminotransferase (E.C. 2.6.1.5), alanine aminotransferase (E.C. 2.6.1.2), and the liver-specific isozymes of alcohol dehydrogenase (E.C. 1.1.1.1) and aldolase (E.C. 4.1.2.13). Moreover, the 4 hybrid clones examined do not produce albumin . The only function of the differentiated parent which is not extinguished in the hybrid cells is inducibility of the aminotransferases. For 3 of the hybrid clones, extinction of 3 of the 4 enzymes is incomplete, but these clones do not differ in modal chromosome number from those which show more complete extinction of the enzymes. Subcloning of several of the hybrids revealed that the phenotype of the hybrids is very stable; 4 subclones showing reexpression of intermediate levels of the enzymes are characterized. These results show that dedifferentiation of the parental cells is not due to the simple loss of some factor required for the maintenance of expression of differentiated functions, and suggest that dedifferentiation is due to the activation of some control mechanism, whose final effect is negative, and which may be a part of the epigenotype of the embryonic hepatocyte.

Revertants of dedifferentiated variants of Reuber H35 rat hepatoma cells can be readily detected, for they acquire the ability to proliferate in G − (glucose-free) medium owing to the production of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase and fructose diphosphatase, two liver-specific enzymes required for the gluconeogenic pathway. We have tried to obtain both spontaneous and mutagen-induced revertants of two independent variant lines of hepatoma cells, H5 and Faofl, both characterized by the absence of expression of all or most of the seven liver-specific functions analyzed. No spontaneous or mutagen-induced revertant of 1s or 2s H5 cells has been obtained among a total of 3.3 × 10 9 cells challenged with G − medium; we conclude that multiple and/or irreversible changes underlie the dedifferentiation of H5 cells. Three out of five subclones of Faofl cells gave rise to revertants, at frequencies of 1–7 × 10 −8 . FaoflC2 cells were treated with EMS, X-rays or ICR-191G; the numbers of revertants in the treated populations were not above background. All the Faofl revertants are of one phenotypic class: they express not only the two gluconeogenic enzymes necessary for survival in G − medium but also all of the other liver functions examined. We conclude that reversion of Faofl cells involves modification in activity of genes responsible for regulation of the entire group of liver functions, and that this change is not provoked by mutagens.

Dedifferentiated rat hepatoma variant cells of clone Faof1 fail to express most of the liver-specific functions characteristic of its line or origin, H4IIEC3. When Faof1 cells are cultivated for 48 hr in the form of aggregates two cell types can be recovered from monolayer cultures established from the aggregates: the majority of cells are similar to the Faof1 parental line, but a new cell type (designated dag) that adheres only weakly to the substrate is present at a frequency of 2–12 × 10 −2 . Eight dag populations and eight clones are characterized as being different from Faof1 cells by the production of serum albumin, aldolase B and in some cases activity of alcohol dehydrogenase and alanine aminotransferase. No dag cells are recovered after 18 or 24 hours of aggregation, but after 48 or 96 hrs 1–5% of the cells give rise to clones of dag cells. During aggregation cells are committed to become dag cells but their new phenotype is expressed only after 5–12 days. The fraction of dag cells in colonies that grow out from aggregates suggests that dag transformation is not a clonal event. These experiments demonstrate that a transitory change in the culture conditions of Faof1 cells can lead to a heritable modification in phenotypic expression. Since dag cells fail to express the liver-specific gluconeogenic enzymes that permit cells to grow in glucose-free medium, it is possible to select from dag populations revertants in which expression of these activities is restored. The frequency of appearance of such dag revertants is not increased by the action of EMS.

Two independent dedifferentiated variants, H5 and Faofl C2, derived from the Reuber H35 hepatoma, produce transacting diffusible substance(s) that extinguish the expression of liver-specific proteins when hybridized with a well-differentiated cell line of the same origin (Fao and Fu5-5, respectively). H5 x Fao hybrids show total and stable extinction of four liver functions and clonal variability in the expression of three others. FaoflC2 × Fu5-5 hybrids are initially flat (like FaoflC2 cells), and die in glucose-free medium where survival requires expression of hepatic gluco-neogenic enzymes, but then evolve to hepatoma-like and finally round morphology; these latter cells express all liver functions analyzed including the gluconeogenic enzymes. Two exceptional clones that remained flat long enough for complete analysis showed extinction of all hepatic functions not expressed by FaoflC2 cells. We conclude that this transitory extinction reflects the action and then loss of extinguishing factor(s) contributed by FaoflC2. When crossed with BW1- J mouse hepatoma cells, FaoflC2 causes stable extinction of mouse aldolase B. We propose that production of extinguishing factor(s) is the rule for dedifferentiated variants.

A 23-kilobase-pair segment of DNA containing the entire mouse serum albumin gene as well as 2.2 kilobase pairs of 5' and 4.3 kilobase pairs of 3' flanking sequences has been introduced into pSV2dhfr, a plasmid in which expression of the mouse dihydrofolate reductase cDNA is under the control of simian virus 40 sequences. This vector, pSV2dhfr-alb, was used to transfect differentiated and variant dedifferentiated rat hepatoma cells. Nine independent clones of transfected differentiated cells secrete considerable amounts of mouse albumin, while the expression of the normal rat albumin is the same as in nontransfected cells. In contrast, only small amounts of mouse and rat albumin are produced by transfected dedifferentiated cells. The amounts of albumin mRNA present in the cells are consistent with the amounts of albumin produced. These results show that a transfected gene can be regulated in a fashion consistent with the overall differentiation profile of the cell.