title: Melatonin as a promising agent of regulating stem cell biology and its application in disease therapy.
abstract: Stem cells have emerged as an important approach to repair and regenerate damaged tissues or organs and show great therapeutic potential in a variety of diseases. However, the low survival of engrafted stem cells still remains a major challenge for stem cell therapy. As a major hormone from the pineal gland, melatonin has been shown to play an important role in regulating the physiological and pathological functions of stem cells, such as promoting proliferation, migration and differentiation. Thus, melatonin combined with stem cell transplantation displayed promising application potential in neurodegenerative diseases, liver cirrhosis, wound healing, myocardial infarction, kidney ischemia injury, osteoporosis, etc. It exerts its physiological and pathological functions through its anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-apoptosis and anti-ageing properties. Here, we summarize recent advances on exploring the biological role of melatonin in stem cells, and discuss its potential applications in stem cell-based therapy.
authors.affiliation: College of Pharmacy, Harbin Medical University, Harbin 150081, Heilongjiang Province, China.
authors.forename: Shuo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada.
authors.forename: Simon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: College of Pharmacy, Harbin Medical University, Harbin 150081, Heilongjiang Province, China.
authors.forename: Yuan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Laboratory Diagnosis, the Fourth Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Harbin 150001, Heilongjiang Province, China. Electronic address: rainfall1982@163.com.
authors.forename: Yu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000187:drug effects; D002465:Cell Movement / Q000187:drug effects; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000187:drug effects; D064987:Cell- and Tissue-Based Therapy / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D008550:Melatonin / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000187:drug effects*
chemical_list: D008550:Melatonin
keywords: Differentiation; Melatonin; Migration; Proliferation; Stem cell therapy; Stem cells