syncytium
Sign in to saveAlso known as syntitium, symplasm, syncyte
A syncytium (; : syncytia; from Greek: σύν syn "together" and κύτος kytos "box, i.e. cell") (also syncyitium) or symplasm is a multinucleate cell that can result from multiple cell fusions of uninuclear cells (i.e., cells with a single nucleus), in contrast to a coenocyte, which can result from multiple nuclear divisions without accompanying cytokinesis. The muscle cell that makes up animal skeletal muscle is a classic example of a syncytium cell. The term may also refer to cells interconnected by specialized membranes with gap junctions, as seen in the heart muscle cells and certain smooth mu
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Article
21 sectionsContents
- Physiological examples
- Protists
- Plants
- Fungi
- Animals
- Nerve net
- Skeletal muscle
- Cardiac muscle
- Smooth muscle
- Osteoclasts
- Placenta
- Glass sponges
- Tegument
- Pathological examples
- Viral infection
- Reoviridae
- HIV
- Mumps
- COVID-19
- See also
- References
A syncytium (; : syncytia; from Greek: σύν syn "together" and κύτος kytos "box, i.e. cell") (also syncyitium) or symplasm is a multinucleate cell that can result from multiple cell fusions of uninuclear cells (i.e., cells with a single nucleus), in contrast to a coenocyte, which can result from multiple nuclear divisions without accompanying cytokinesis. The muscle cell that makes up animal skeletal muscle is a classic example of a syncytium cell. The term may also refer to cells interconnected by specialized membranes with gap junctions, as seen in the heart muscle cells and certain smooth muscle cells, which are synchronized electrically in an action potential.
The field of embryogenesis uses the word syncytium to refer to the coenocytic blastoderm embryos of invertebrates, such as Drosophila melanogaster.