Figure 1. Phenotypic landscape.

These are illustrative cartoons of the cell fate attractor landscape. (A) The minimal cellular identity landscape. Each cell fate is a basin of attraction (black circles). Reprogramming between different cell fates (1 and 2) can occur probabilistically via different trajectories (black paths). Partially reprogrammed cells (PRC) exist as smaller, spurious, basins of attraction (red circle) that can be experimentally observed by reprogramming experiments (example trajectory in red). (B) Same cellular identity landscape in the presence of a stabilizing environment (ex. favorable culturing medium) for cell fate 2. The environment increases the radius and depth of the cell fate 2 basin of attraction. (C) Landscape in the presence of an external signal that gives rise to differentiation from cell fate 1 to cell fate 2 (ex. growth factors associated with differentiation). Notice the low energy path between the cell fates that drives switching from cell fate 1 to cell fate 2.