pleiotypicadj.
/ˌplʌɪəˈtɪpɪk/, U.S. /ˌplaɪəˈtɪpɪk/ Biology.
Relating to or designating a process whereby a single stimulus can elicit multiple unrelated responses from a living cell; acting through such a process.
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the world > life > biology > biological processes > stimulation > [adjective] > qualities of stimulus
heterologous1889
suprathreshold1911
subthreshold1937
pleiotypic1971
1971 Nature New Biol. 7 Apr. 162/1 Gordon Tomkins has proposed that mammalian cells may have a ‘pleiotypic’ control system to coordinate changes in the overall levels of synthesis and degradation of RNA and proteins.
1971 A. Hershko et al. in Nature New Biol. 18 Aug. 206/2 [We] suggest that, in a variety of mammalian cell types, a constant set of metabolically unrelated biochemical reactions respond coordinately when changes in the environment affect cellular growth. Because of the multiplicity and diversity of the reactions involved, we refer to the entire regulatory programme as the ‘pleiotypic response’.
1986 Molecular & Cell Biol. 6 1179 These results do not support the hypothesis that Ap4A is a positive pleiotypic activator that modulates DNA replication.
1993 Cancer Res. 53 3405/1 AMP prevents phospholipase activation as one of its pleiotypic effects on growth.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2006; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.1971