Gyeonggi Bio-Center, Gyeonggi Institute of Science and Technology Promotion, Suwon 443-270, Korea.
Arch Pharm Res. 2012 Feb;35(2):281-97. doi: 10.1007/s12272-012-0208-6. Epub 2012 Feb 28.
Stem cells are offering a considerable range of prospects to the biomedical research including novel platforms for disease models and drug discovery tools to cell transplantation and regenerative therapies. However, there are several obstacles to overcome to bring these potentials into reality. First, robust methods to maintain stem cells in the pluripotent state should be established and factors that are required to direct stem cell fate into a particular lineage should be elucidated. Second, both allogeneic rejection following transplantation and limited cell availability issues must be circumvented. These challenges are being addressed, at least in part, through the identification of a group of chemicals (small molecules) that possess novel activities on stem cell biology. For example, small molecules can be used both in vitro and/or in vivo as tools to promote proliferation of stem cells (self-renewal), to direct stem cells to a lineage specific patterns (differentiation), or to reprogram somatic cells to a more undifferentiated state (de-differentiation or reprogramming). These molecules, in turn, have provided new insights into the signaling mechanisms that regulate stem cell biology, and may eventually lead to effective therapies in regenerative medicine. In this review, we will introduce recent findings with regards to small molecules and their impact on stem cell self-renewal and differentiation.
干细胞为生物医学研究提供了广泛的前景，包括用于疾病模型的新平台和药物发现工具，以及细胞移植和再生疗法。然而，要将这些潜力变为现实，还需要克服几个障碍。首先，需要建立维持干细胞多能性状态的稳健方法，并阐明将干细胞命运定向特定谱系所需的因素。其次，必须避免移植后的异体排斥反应和有限的细胞可用性问题。这些挑战至少部分通过鉴定一组具有干细胞生物学新活性的化学物质（小分子）来解决。例如，小分子可以在体外和/或体内用作促进干细胞增殖（自我更新）、将干细胞定向特定谱系模式（分化）或使体细胞重新编程为更未分化状态（去分化或重编程）的工具。这些分子反过来为调节干细胞生物学的信号机制提供了新的见解，并可能最终导致再生医学中的有效治疗方法。在这篇综述中，我们将介绍小分子的最新发现及其对干细胞自我更新和分化的影响。
