Cellular Adaptation

How cells cope with stress · Week 3
When cells are stressed, they adapt to survive. They can get bigger, get smaller, grow more numerous, or switch to another type. Most adaptations are harmless. One of them, dysplasia, is a warning sign for cancer. Click each one and watch the cells change.

Normal → adapted tissue

The left block is normal tissue. Watch how the cells on the right change for each adaptation.
Pick an adaptation.
Pick an adaptationhypertrophy · atrophy · hyperplasia · metaplasia · dysplasia

What's happening

When adaptation fails, cells get hurt. The #1 cause of cell injury is hypoxia, which means low oxygen. It comes from atherosclerosis, anemia, or an ischemic stroke. Mild injury is reversible. If the stress keeps up, it turns irreversible and the cell dies.