What is a cell type and how to define it?

摘要

Cell types are the basic functional units of an organism.Cell types exhibit diverse phenotypic properties at multiple levels,making them challenging to define,categorize,and understand.This review provides an overview of the basic principles of cell types rooted in evolution and development and discusses approaches to characterize and classify cell types and investigate how they contribute to the organism's function,using the mammalian brain as a primary example.