| Abstrakt: |
Stem cells are clonogenic cells capable of both self-renewal and multilineage differentiation. During development and regeneration of a given tissue, such cells give rise initially to non-self-renewing progenitors with restricted differentiation potential, and finally to functionally mature cells while maintaining primitive stem cells. Because of these unique properties, stem cells offer the novel and exciting possibility of regenerative medicine. In addition, growing evidence supports the existence of cancer stem cells (CSCs) assumed to be responsible for cancer formation and its growth. It is evident that understanding of signaling mechanisms in these stem cells is crucial not only for transplantation and regenerative medicine but also for cancer treatment. However, our knowledge of the signaling events that control cell fate determination remains limited for any type of adult stem cells, including hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) as well as CSCs, because of their paucity. To circumvent this issue, we have recently developed a method that allows quantitative analysis of protein expression, localization, and phosphorylation in very rare cells such as HSCs. Using this technique, we are beginning to uncover molecular mechanisms that regulate stem cell self-renewal, cell cycle, and hibernation. This technique, in combination with a cell imaging analyzer, potentially has wide applications to studies of a variety of rare normal and malignant cells. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER] |
