Embryonic stem cells: a great hope for a new era of medicine.
Current stem-cell research has the potential to lead to new approaches for the treatment of cardiovascular, neurodegenerative and musculoskeletal diseases, as well as diabetes and cancer. Stem-cell-based approaches could be employed in cell-replacement therapy or in drug treatments that encourage adult stem cells to migrate and activate at a site of injury or disease. For such therapeutic approaches to be successful, a greater understanding of the signaling pathways that determine the diverse developmental fates of these cells is needed. From a drug-discovery perspective, efforts are being deployed in developing cell-based assays to screen for small molecules that can modulate stem-cell fate. Such compounds will provide new insights into stem-cell biology, and may ultimately contribute to effective disease treatments.
Tutter
Antonin V
AV
Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research Inc, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
Baltus
Gretchen A
GA
Kadam
Shilpa
S
D000818:Animals; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000187:drug effects; D006801:Humans; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D033581:Stem Cell Transplantation; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000502:physiology*; D014116:Toxicology / Q000379:methods