Fig. 1
From: Molecular mechanisms controlling asymmetric and symmetric self-renewal of cancer stem cells
A model for self-renewal of NSCs and CSCs through asymmetric cell division. NSCs and CSCs maintain their populations in tissues or tumors through asymmetric self-renewal cell division in which one daughter cell possesses stem cell properties and the other undergoes differentiation. Through this mechanism, stem cells achieve the production of both self-renewing and differentiating cells in a single cell division. The two types of stem cells are thought to share molecular mechanisms that control asymmetric self-renewal cell division. Generally, asymmetric cell division is regulated by two types of mechanisms, intrinsic and extrinsic. Modified from (Romano 2009)