Stem cells in late development

Stem cells in late development

As development proceeds, there is a loss of potential and a gain of specialization, a process called determination. The cells of the germ layers are more specialized than the fertilized egg or the blastomere. The germ layer stem cells give rise to progenitor cells (also known as progenitors or precursor cells). For example, a cell in the endoderm gives rise to a primitive gut cell (progenitor) which can further divide to produce a liver cell (a terminally differentiated cell).

Hierarchy of stem cells during differentiation.2at each stage, differential potential decreases and specialization increases.
(* These are also called transit-amplifying cells)