Piscaglia A C, Shupe T, Gasbarrini A, Petersen B E
Department of Pathology, Immunology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Florida, College of Medicine, Gainesville, FL 32610-0275, USA.
Curr Pharm Biotechnol. 2007 Jun;8(3):167-75. doi: 10.2174/138920107780906478.
Stem cells represent the key to tissue genesis, regeneration, and turnover. This notion has spawned the concept of regenerative medicine, or stem cell based therapies to supplement degenerating or damaged tissues. However, stem cells may also represent a preferential target of carcinogens. The unique ability of stem cells to self-renew and to differentiate into multiple phenotypes implies that all stem cells share a common transcriptional signature. A better knowledge of the stem cell transcriptome appears to be fundamental to fully achieve the potential of regenerative medicine, and may lead to new strategies for cancer prevention and treatment. Elucidation of the transcriptional programming and molecular mechanisms which direct stem cell self-renewal, differentiation, and tumorigenesis should provide key insights into deciphering exactly how "stemness" is maintained, as well as the molecular basis of cell plasticity and cancer development. cDNA and oligonucleotide microarrays are the most accessible transcriptome profiling methods to date, providing the unique opportunity to compare global gene expression patterns among different cell populations. Microarray technologies have been applied to three major areas of stem cell research: maintenance of pluripotency, development of uniform and regulated differentiation, and microenvironment analyses. The aim of the present review is to summarize state-of-the-art transcriptional profiling of different stem cell lines, cancer stem cells, and the niches these cells occupy in vivo.
干细胞是组织发生、再生和更新的关键。这一概念催生了再生医学的理念，即基于干细胞的疗法来补充退化或受损组织。然而，干细胞也可能是致癌物的优先作用靶点。干细胞自我更新并分化为多种表型的独特能力意味着所有干细胞都具有共同的转录特征。深入了解干细胞转录组似乎是充分发挥再生医学潜力的基础，并且可能会带来癌症预防和治疗的新策略。阐明指导干细胞自我更新、分化和肿瘤发生的转录程序和分子机制，应该能为准确解读“干性”如何维持以及细胞可塑性和癌症发展的分子基础提供关键见解。cDNA和寡核苷酸微阵列是目前最容易获得的转录组分析方法，为比较不同细胞群体之间的全局基因表达模式提供了独特的机会。微阵列技术已应用于干细胞研究的三个主要领域：多能性的维持、均匀且受调控的分化的发展以及微环境分析。本综述的目的是总结不同干细胞系、癌症干细胞及其在体内所占据的微环境的最新转录谱分析情况。
