Research Perspective|Volume 3, Issue 10|pp 920—933

Roles of FGF signaling in stem cell self-renewal, senescence and aging

Daniel L. Coutu¹, Jacques Galipeau²

¹Stem Cell Dynamics Research Unit, Helmholtz Zentrum München, 85764 Munich (Germany)
²Departments of Hematology & Medical Oncology, and Pediatrics, Emory University, Winship Cancer Institute, Atlanta 30322, GA (USA)

Received: September 23, 2011Accepted: October 4, 2011Published: October 9, 2011

Copyright: © 2011 Coutu et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Abstract

The aging process decreases tissue function and regenerative capacity, which has been associated with cellular senescence and a decline in adult or somatic stem cell numbers and self-renewal within multiple tissues. The potential therapeutic application of stem cells to reduce the burden of aging and stimulate tissue regeneration after trauma is very promising. Much research is currently ongoing to identify the factors and molecular mediators of stem cell self-renewal to reach these goals. Over the last two decades, fibroblast growth factors (FGFs) and their receptors (FGFRs) have stood up as major players in both embryonic development and tissue repair. Moreover, many studies point to somatic stem cells as major targets of FGF signaling in both tissue homeostasis and repair. FGFs appear to promote self-renewing proliferation and inhibit cellular senescence in nearly all tissues tested to date. Here we review the role of FGFs and FGFRs in stem cell self-renewal, cellular senescence, and aging.