Cell science

What these cells actually do

Plain-language explanations of every cell type and preparation RediCell supplies — what each one is, where it sits in the body, and the job it does there. Written to be read by anyone, and free for clinics to share with the people they care for.

Stem cells 15

The signalling cell Mesenchymal stem cells Mesenchymal stem cells are the body’s co-ordinators. Rather than replacing tissue themselves, they sit among other cells and release the chemical messages that tell those cells what to do. Read The nervous-system founder cell Neural stem cells Neural stem cells are the cells the nervous system is built from. Every neuron and every support cell in the brain and spinal cord descends from one. Read The dopamine cell Dopamine-secreting neurocytes A small population of neurons deep in the brain makes dopamine — the chemical messenger the brain uses to co-ordinate movement, motivation and reward. Read The heart-building cell Cardiac progenitor cells Cardiac progenitor cells are the cells the heart is constructed from — the muscle that contracts, the vessels that feed it, and the smooth muscle in their walls. Read The insulin cell Insulin-secreting pancreatic beta cells Beta cells are the body’s glucose sensors. They sit in the pancreas, read the sugar level in the blood continuously, and release insulin in proportion to what they read. Read The bone-laying cell Osteoblasts Osteoblasts build bone. They lay down the protein scaffold, then mineralise it — and they do it continuously, because bone is rebuilt throughout life. Read The muscle repair cell Skeletal muscle stem cells Muscle fibres are too large and too specialised to divide. Repair falls instead to satellite cells, a reserve population that waits, dormant, against the surface of every fibre. Read The cartilage cell Chondrocytes Chondrocytes are the only cells in cartilage. Each sits alone in a small pocket of the matrix it built around itself. Read The barrier cell Epidermal skin cells The outer layer of skin renews itself completely every few weeks. Keratinocytes are the cells that do it, migrating upward from the base until they become the barrier itself. Read The vessel lining Endothelial cells Every blood vessel in the body — from the aorta down to the smallest capillary — is lined on the inside by a single continuous layer of endothelial cells. Read The lung’s caretaker cell Alveolar type 2 cells Deep in the lung, type 2 cells do two jobs: they make the substance that stops the air sacs collapsing, and they are the cells the lining regenerates from. Read The filter-building cell Kidney progenitor cells Each kidney contains around a million filtering units. Every one of them is built, before birth, from a progenitor cell — and the supply runs out at birth. Read The liver’s reserve Hepatic stem cells The liver is the one internal organ that regrows. Hepatic stem cells are its reserve population, held back for when ordinary repair is not enough. Read The photoreceptor’s support cell Retinal pigment epithelium Behind the light-sensing cells of the retina sits a single dark layer of cells that feeds them, absorbs stray light, and clears away their worn-out parts every morning. Read The immune patrol cell Natural killer cells Most immune cells have to be taught what to attack. Natural killer cells do not — they patrol continuously, inspecting cells and acting on what they find. Read

Exosomes 1

The message, not the messenger Exosomes Exosomes are tiny membrane bubbles that cells release to carry molecular cargo to other cells. They are how a cell sends a package rather than a signal. Read

Secretomes 1

Everything the cell puts out Secretomes A secretome is the complete set of molecules a cell releases — the exosomes plus all the free proteins, growth factors and cytokines alongside them. Read

Mitochondria 1

The cell’s power plant Mitochondria Mitochondria are the compartments inside a cell that turn food and oxygen into usable energy. They carry their own DNA, and they are inherited only from the mother. Read

For clinics

These pages are public and free to link to or print. They deliberately describe normal human biology and nothing else — no conditions, no indications, no outcomes and no pricing — so that handing one to a patient does not put a claim in your mouth that neither of us can support.

If you would like these in another language, or as a printed leaflet with your practice’s details on it, write to office@redicell.com.