The biology of stem cell factor, a new hematopoietic growth factor involved in stem cell regulation.
Recently, a new hematopoietic growth factor, stem cell factor, the ligand for the c-kit-proto-oncogene, has been cloned. The gene for this factor or for its receptor are deleted in two well known series of mice mutants which display pleiotropic stem cell defects. Therefore, this factor supposedly plays an important role in stem cell biology. This paper reviews some of the elegant genetic work which led to the discovery of the factor and of its receptor, the biological effects that this factor exerts in the hematopoietic system in normal individuals and in patients with Diamond-Blackfan anemia and speculates on some of its potential clinical applications.
Galli
M C
MC
Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy.
Giardina
P J
PJ
Migliaccio
A R
AR
Migliaccio
G
G
D000740:Anemia / Q000628:therapy; D000818:Animals; D002874:Chromosome Mapping; D006410:Hematopoiesis / Q000502:physiology; D016298:Hematopoietic Cell Growth Factors / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006412:Hematopoietic Stem Cells / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D009154:Mutation / Q000235:genetics; D000090063:Proto-Oncogene Mas; D019089:Stem Cell Factor
D016298:Hematopoietic Cell Growth Factors; C000715470:MAS1 protein, human; D000090063:Proto-Oncogene Mas; D019089:Stem Cell Factor