Stem cells take care of the business of self-renewal that occurs in the human body by differentiating from a less mature, unspecialized cell type to a more mature, specialized type. Stem cell differentiation is dependent on cell-signaling activities, which can be targeted for drug discovery. For example, a drug researcher may be interested in determining if a specific compound triggers differentiation in a particular stem cell line. “There are several signaling pathways that regulate the survival, proliferation, differentiation, and self-renewal of both embryonic and adult tissue stem cells, with the Notch, Wnt, and Hedgehog pathways being among the best characterized,” says Stephen Szilvassy, PhD, principal scientist in Hematology/Oncology Research, Amgen Corporation. “Some of these key regulators are over-expressed or dysregulated in tumors, and possibly also in putative cancer ‘stem’ cells, and therefore might be useful therapeutic targets.” For the last several years, Amgen has been developing both antibody- and small-molecule-based therapeutics that modulate some of the key components of these stem cell signaling pathways; these therapeutics are currently in preclinical studies.
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Stem cells take care of the business of self-renewal that occurs in the human body by differentiating from a less mature, unspecialized cell type to a more mature, specialized type.

Stem cell differentiation is dependent on cell-signaling activities, which can be targeted for drug discovery. For example, a drug researcher may be interested in determining if a specific compound triggers differentiation in a particular stem cell line. “There are several signaling pathways that regulate the survival, proliferation, differentiation, and self-renewal of both embryonic and adult tissue stem cells, with the Notch, Wnt, and Hedgehog pathways being among the best characterized,” says Stephen Szilvassy, PhD, principal scientist in Hematology/Oncology Research, Amgen Corporation. “Some of these key regulators are over-expressed or dysregulated in tumors, and possibly also in putative cancer ‘stem’ cells, and therefore might be useful therapeutic targets.” For the last several years, Amgen has been developing both antibody- and small-molecule-based therapeutics that modulate some of the key components of these stem cell signaling pathways; these therapeutics are currently in preclinical studies.

Source: dddmag.com

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    stem cells can develop into virtually any kind of cell in the body
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    you who plan to have babies, donate your cord blood!
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