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Discoveries
Secrets of cellular signaling shed light on new cancer stem cell therapies
April 9, 2008 - By revealing the inner workings of a common cell-to-cell signaling system, University of Michigan biologists have uncovered new clues about mysterious and contentious creatures called cancer stem cells.
The aim is to use so-called Notch inhibitors to attack cancer stem cells, the small fraction of stem cells inside a tumor that help it survive and that fuel its growth.
New results from the U-M's Dr. Ivan Maillard and his colleagues showed that blood-forming stem cells in mice survive just fine when the Notch signaling pathway is experimentally blocked.
