The term cell growth is used in two different ways in biology.

When used in the context of reproduction cells of living cells the phrase "cell growth" is shorthand for the idea of "growth in cell populations by means of cell reproduction." During cell reproduction one cell (the "mother" cell) divides to produce two daughter cells.

Cell populations

Cell populations go through a type of exponential growth called doubling. Thus, each generation of cells should be twice as numerous as the previous generation. However, the number of generations only gives a maximum figure as not all cells survive in each generation.

Yeast cell size regulation

The relationship between cell size and cell division has been extensively studied in yeast. For some cells, there is a mechanism by which cell division is not initiated until a cell has reached a certain size. If the nutrient supply is restricted (after time t = 2 in the diagram, below) and the rate of increase in cell size is slowed, the time period between cell divisions is increased. Yeast cell size mutants were isolated that begin cell division before reaching the normal size (wee mutants). The Wee1 protein is a tyrosine kinase. It normally phosphorylates the Cdc2 cell cycle regulatory protein (cyclin-dependent kinase-1, CDK1) on a tyrosine residue. This covalent modification of the molecular structure of Cdc2 inhibits the enzymatic activity of Cdc2 and prevents cell division. In Wee1 mutants, there is less Wee1 activity and Cdc2 becomes active in smaller cells, causing cell division before the yeast cells reach their normal size. Cell division may be regulated in part by dilution of Wee1 protein in cells as they grow larger.

Cell size regulation in mammals

The protein mTOR is a serine/threonine kinase that regulates translation and cell division. Nutrient availability influences mTOR so that when cells are not able to grow to normal size they will not undergo cell division. The details of the molecular mechanisms of mammalian cell size control are currently being investigated. The size of post-mitotic neurons depends on the size of the cell body, axon and dendrites. In vertebrates, neuron size is often a reflection of the number of synaptic contacts onto the neuron or from a neuron onto other cells. For example, the size of motoneurons usually reflects the size of the motor unit that is controlled by the motoneuron. Invertebrates often have giant neurons and axons that provide special functions such as rapid action potential propagation. Mammals also use this trick for increasing the speed of signals in the nervous system, but they can also use myelin to accomplish this, so most human neurons are releatively small cells.