1,440 articles
Twinfilin
Twinfilin (TWF1) is a conserved ADF-H family actin-binding protein with twin ADF-H domains; it sequesters ADP-G-actin, caps or depolymerizes filament barbed ends, and uncaps capping protein.
Two-dimensional cell culture
Two-dimensional cell culture is the bench method of growing anchorage-dependent cells as a flat monolayer on treated polystyrene, the default for growing animal and human cells for over a century.
Two-electrode voltage clamp
Two-electrode voltage clamp (TEVC) is an electrophysiology technique that uses two microelectrodes to hold a large cell's membrane voltage and measure currents through ion channels, the standard method for recording expressed channels in Xenopus laevis oocytes.
Type B synovial cell
Type B synovial cell, or fibroblast-like synoviocyte (FLS), synovial fibroblast: resident stromal cell of the synovial intimal lining secreting hyaluronan, lubricin, collagens, and fibronectin; key effector cell in rheumatoid arthritis.
Type I cell of carotid body
Type I cell (glomus cell, chief cell) of the carotid body: the neural crest-derived neurosecretory chemoreceptor cell that senses arterial hypoxia, hypercapnia, pH, and glucose, and signals via K+ channel inhibition, calcium influx, and transmitter release.
Type N enteroendocrine cell
Type N enteroendocrine cell (N cell): a neurotensin-secreting EEC of the jejunum and ileum, identified in 1977, stimulated by dietary fats via FFAR1/FFAR4, coexpressing GLP-1 and PYY, and arising from L-cell lineage switching.
U-118MG
U-118MG (U-118 MG, U118) is a human glioblastoma cell line, Cellosaurus CVCL_0633, ATCC HTB-15, established in 1968; shown to be a contaminated U-138MG derivative with homozygous PTEN and TP53 mutations, used widely in glioma drug screening.
U-251MG
U-251MG (U251, CVCL_0021) is a human glioblastoma/astrocytoma cell line from a 75-year-old male, established in 1960s Uppsala; TP53/PTEN mutant, NCI-60 member, known for U-373 cross-contamination and subclone genetic drift.
U-343MG
U-343MG (CVCL_S471), also written U343MG or U-343, is a human glioblastoma cell line from a male donor's temporal lobe, GFAP-negative and mesenchymal, part of the U-343 same-tumor panel with U-343MGa.
U-373MG Uppsala
U-373MG Uppsala, also written U-373 MG (Uppsala), is the original human glioblastoma astrocytoma cell line, established in 1973 at the University of Uppsala and distinguished from the widely distributed stock that is actually U-251 MG.
U-87MG ATCC
U-87MG ATCC (HTB-14, CVCL_0022), also called U87MG or U87, is a widely used human glioblastoma cell line of male CNS origin that is misidentified: it is not the original 1968 Uppsala U87MG line from a 44-year-old woman.
U-937
U-937 (U937) is a human pro-monocytic leukemia cell line established in 1974 from a 37-year-old man's histiocytic lymphoma pleural effusion; widely used to study monocyte-macrophage differentiation, apoptosis, and inflammation.
U266B1
U266B1 (U266, U-266; CVCL_0566, ATCC TIB-196) is a human IgE lambda-secreting B lymphocyte myeloma cell line established in 1970 from a 53-year-old male patient, used widely in multiple myeloma and immunology research.
U2OS
U2OS (U-2 OS), human osteosarcoma cell line from a 15-year-old girl's tibia, established 1964 by Ponten and Saksela; first human osteosarcoma line, p53 wild-type, epithelial-like morphology, standard model for DNA damage and imaging research.
UM-SCC-1
UM-SCC-1, also written UMSCC-1 or SCC-1, is a human head and neck squamous cell carcinoma cell line established at the University of Michigan in 1981 from a recurrent floor-of-mouth tumor.
UM-UC-3
UM-UC-3 (UMUC3, CVCL_1783, ATCC CRL-1749) is a human bladder carcinoma cell line from a male patient, KRAS G12C and TP53 mutant, CDKN2A/PTEN deleted, widely used in orthotopic bladder cancer models.
Uncoupling protein
Uncoupling proteins (UCP1, UCP2, UCP3, UCP4, UCP5) are mitochondrial inner-membrane carriers that leak protons back to the matrix, producing heat instead of ATP; UCP1 drives brown-fat thermogenesis, activated by fatty acids and superoxide, inhibited by purine nucleotides.
Unfolded protein response
Unfolded protein response (UPR): ER stress signaling network via IRE1α–XBP1, PERK–eIF2α–ATF4, and ATF6 branches, balancing adaptation against apoptosis in cancer, diabetes, and neurodegeneration.
Urothelial cell
Urothelial cells form the urothelium (transitional epithelium) lining the renal pelvis, ureters, bladder, and proximal urethra. Three types, basal, intermediate, and umbrella cells, build the blood-urine barrier and give rise to urothelial carcinoma.
UT-7
UT-7 (UT7, CVCL_2233) is a human megakaryoblastic leukemia cell line established in 1991 from a 64-year-old Japanese man's bone marrow, absolutely dependent on GM-CSF, IL-3, or erythropoietin, with sublines UT-7/Epo, UT-7/GM, and UT-7/TPO.
Vacuolar fusion protein Mon1
Vacuolar fusion protein Mon1 (SAND1) is a conserved trafficking protein that with Ccz1, and in metazoans RMC1, forms the Rab7/Ypt7 guanine nucleotide exchange factor driving endosome and autophagosome fusion with lysosomes.
Vacuolar protein sorting-associated protein Ist1
Vacuolar protein sorting-associated protein Ist1 (Ist1p, human IST1/CHMP8) is an ESCRT-III accessory protein that regulates Vps4, forms CHMP1B-IST1 constriction copolymers, and functions in MVB sorting, cytokinetic abscission, and endosomal recycling.
Vacuole
Vacuole: membrane-bound cell organelle, also called tonoplast-enclosed cell sap compartment; largest compartment of plant cells (up to 90% of volume), absent from most animal cells; handles storage, degradation, turgor, and ion homeostasis.
Vagina squamous cell
Vagina squamous cell (CL:1001578) is the Cell Ontology term for squamous epithelial cells of the vaginal epithelium, part of the vagina; estrogen via ESR1 and amphiregulin drives their differentiation, with keratin 4/13 and 1/10 expression in humans.
Valinomycin
Valinomycin is a cyclic depsipeptide antibiotic isolated in 1955 from Streptomyces fulvissimus that binds potassium with high selectivity and carries it across membranes; it is the standard model ionophore and the core of clinical potassium electrodes.
Vault (organelle)
Vault (organelle), also called vault particle, is a 13 MDa barrel-shaped ribonucleoprotein organelle of 78 MVP copies plus vPARP, TEP1, and vault RNAs; about 100,000 per human cell, discovered 1986, function still largely unknown.
VDAC2
VDAC2 (voltage-dependent anion channel 2) is a mammalian outer mitochondrial membrane porin, non-redundant with VDAC1/3, with a unique 11-residue N-terminal extension; it transports ATP, ADP, NADPH and Ca2+, inhibits BAK, enables BAX-mediated apoptosis, and its mouse knockout is embryonic lethal.
Vegetative cell (sensu Fungi)
Vegetative cell (sensu Fungi): fungal cells in the growth phase, as yeast or hyphae; hyphal tip growth via Spitzenkörper; dimorphic switching between forms underlies pathogenicity.
Ventral tegmental area
Ventral tegmental area (VTA), area tegmentalis ventralis, ventral tegmental area of Tsai: midbrain region dorsomedial to the substantia nigra, origin of mesolimbic and mesocortical dopamine systems, central to reward prediction error, addiction, and schizophrenia.
Vero
Vero is a continuous cell line derived from African green monkey kidney epithelium, established in Japan in 1962 and widely used to produce viral vaccines, including polio and COVID-19 vaccines.