Two opposing faces of retinoic acid: induction of stemness or induction of differentiation depending on cell-type
Author
Mezquita, Belén
Mezquita, Cristóbal
Publication date
2019ISSN
2218-273X
Abstract
Stem cells have the capacity of self-renewal and, through proliferation and differentiation, are responsible for the embryonic development, postnatal development, and the regeneration of tissues in the adult organism. Cancer stem cells, analogous to the physiological stem cells, have the capacity of self-renewal and may account for growth and recurrence of tumors. Development and regeneration of healthy tissues and tumors depend on the balance of different genomic and nongenomic signaling pathways that regulate stem cell quiescence, proliferation, and differentiation. During evolution, this balance became dependent on all-trans retinoic acid (RA), a molecule derived from the environmental factor vitamin A. Here we summarize some recent findings on the prominent role of RA on the proliferation of stem and progenitor cells, in addition to its well-known function as an inductor of cell differentiation. A better understanding of the regulatory mechanisms of stemness and cell differentiation by RA may improve the therapeutic options of this molecule in regenerative medicine and cancer.
Document Type
Article
Document version
Published version
Language
English
Subject (CDU)
61 - Medical sciences
Keywords
Àcid retinoic
Diferenciació
Medicina regenerativa
Càncer
Ácido retinoico
Diferenciación
Medicina regenerativa
Cáncer
Retinoic acid
Differentiation
Regenerative medicine
Cancer
Pages
17
Publisher
MDPI
Collection
9; 10
Is part of
Biomolecules
Citation
Mezquita, Belén; Mezquita, Cristóbal. Two opposing faces of retinoic acid: induction of stemness or induction of differentiation depending on cell-type. Biomolecules, 2019, 9(10), 567. Disponible en: <https://www.mdpi.com/2218-273X/9/10/567>. Fecha de acceso: 10 dic. 2021. DOI: 10.3390/biom9100567
This item appears in the following Collection(s)
- Ciències de la Salut [745]
Rights
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Except where otherwise noted, this item's license is described as https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/