Paracrine signaling in stem cell renewal and in neoplastic tumor growth.
Paracrine pathway activities are being increasingly recognized as instrumental regulatory mechanisms of epithelial-stromal interactions that play important roles in physiological and pathological self-renewal of stem cells and in the initiation and maintenance of neoplastic tumor development. Stromal-specific Hedgehog (Hh) responses and epithelial-associated Wnt pathway activities have been recently appreciated as important factors in stem cell self-renewal and carcinogenesis. Furthermore, Hh and Wnt pathways frequently crosstalk with each other to regulate the growth of epithelial cells in a context-dependent manner. Because small molecule modulators of Hh and Wnt pathway activities are readily available, emerging roles of Hh-Wnt pathway crosstalk in epithelial-stromal interactions will shed light on the development of regenerative and anticancer medicines.
Department of Developmental Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA, chenzhao@stanford.edu.
Chen
C
Zhao
D000818:Animals; D004847:Epithelial Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology; D053823:Hedgehog Proteins / Q000502:physiology; D006706:Homeostasis; D006801:Humans; D014411:Neoplastic Stem Cells / Q000473:pathology* / Q000502:physiology*; D019899:Paracrine Communication; D044968:Regenerative Medicine; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000502:physiology*; D017154:Stromal Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology; D060449:Wnt Signaling Pathway
D053823:Hedgehog Proteins