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Exfoliation of Cells

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Cancer

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Synonyms

Shedding of cells; Sloughing of cells

Definition

Cell exfoliation (Latin – exfoliare – to strip of leaves) is a process of spontaneous or induced complete detachment of single epithelial cells or groups of cells from an epithelial layer.

Characteristics

Exfoliation of cells is one of the main mechanisms of cell loss participating in the homeostatic control of cell population size. Cell exfoliation is a characteristic feature of epithelial tissues forming epithelial layers covering both external body surface (skin epidermis and skin appendages) and surfaces of internal cavities and passages (gastrointestinal tract, respiratory system, and genitourinary system) as well as major exocrine glands and glandular ducts (mammary gland, exocrine pancreas, biliary system, etc.). Cell exfoliation process in normal physiological conditions is closely associated with terminal differentiation and orderly loss of dying cells compensated by permanent cell population renewal. This relationship...

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References

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See Also

  • (2012) Biopsy. In: Schwab M (ed) Encyclopedia of cancer, 3rd edn. Springer, Berlin/Heidelberg, p 415. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-16483-5_644

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  • (2012) Cilia. In: Schwab M (ed) Encyclopedia of cancer, 3rd edn. Springer, Berlin/Heidelberg, p 857. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-16483-5_1168

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  • (2012) Focal adhesion. In: Schwab M (ed) Encyclopedia of cancer, 3rd edn. Springer, Berlin/Heidelberg, pp 1436–1437. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-16483-5_2227

    Google Scholar 

  • (2012) Mucocellular layer. In: Schwab M (ed) Encyclopedia of cancer, 3rd edn. Springer, Berlin/Heidelberg, p 2389. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-16483-5_3877

    Google Scholar 

  • (2012) Multi-marker panels. In: Schwab M (ed) Encyclopedia of cancer, 3rd edn. Springer, Berlin/Heidelberg, p 2394. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-16483-5_3884

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. DiagNodus Ltd, Babraham Research Campus, Cambridge, UK

    Alexandre Loktionov

Authors
  1. Alexandre Loktionov
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Alexandre Loktionov .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Abt. Tumorgenetik, Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, Heidelberg, Germany

    Manfred Schwab

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Loktionov, A. (2015). Exfoliation of Cells. In: Schwab, M. (eds) Encyclopedia of Cancer. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27841-9_2056-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27841-9_2056-2

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-27841-9

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Biomedicine and Life SciencesReference Module Biomedical and Life Sciences

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