Chemistry to cure chronic illnesses

We’re all familiar with chronic illnesses and how they require one to need continuous medical help. Even though you specifically might not suffer from them, you know someone who does. Diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, cancer, and many more are all chronic illnesses that are studied constantly hoping for better treatments. But has it ever occurred to you that we might be able to solve it, or just get a step further to solve it from a specific perspective? 

A new model for drug research has been developed which I’m sure will spark your interest. Specifically the calculated inspection for molecules able to selectively control the proliferation, differentiation, and migration of adult stem cells within the tissues in which they exist. The interest in the discovery and design of low molecular weight which influences stem cells within the field of medicinal chemistry has increased, and it would have innovative therapeutic pursuit.

The study of stem cells began when it was found that cells can change themselves into a specific cell for a specific use. This is called the differentiation of a cell. Stem cells essentially are the “raw materials” from your body which all differentiated cells are generated from. They have been utilized for therapeutic use, such as leukemia, and research for further use is constant. This study focusing on stem cells introduces us to a specific perspective in which we could go further on certain applications. Stemistry is the concept of the control of stem cells in situ (meaning on-site) using chemistry. To clarify, it refers to the ability of small molecules to be used as an important appliance in controlling the stem cells that would aid us in understanding more about their hidden nature (Davies et al., 2015) 

The article delves into this approach as a possibility for a new research method and takes evidence from studies focusing on manipulating these stem cells. Although the majority of the work presented to date has come from ‘in vitro studies’ (something happening outside of a living organism/in a glass tube/a controlled subject), the objective of these studies was to find ‘in vivo’ active molecules (in vivo refers to the research you conduct with or within an entire, living organism) and many advanced examples have been described recently.

The article talks about a certain technique called phenotypic screening in which substances (molecules, peptides, etc.) that alter the phenotype of a cell or an organism in the desired manner are discovered. This technique was applied in experiments that studied certain organs in connection with stem cells to detect the signaling pathways of these stem cells. Signaling pathways is a term used in medicine. It’s when a cluster of cells operate together to control a cell function — in this case, differentiation — and is observed as a series of chemical reactions.

Davies with others discussed several experiments concerning several organs and their findings, but let’s talk a little about the study of the heart. It’s been reported that several in vitro studies use small molecule modulators of cardiac differentiation, but translating this practice in vivo is somewhat challenging. However, it’s been found that certain cells can provide cardiac repair in vivo after an injury, thus helping to narrow down effective compounds that could be helpful. The article doesn’t present us with the specifics of these studies but certainly contributes to the evidence of controllable populations of cells within the heart sufficient for regeneration activities. 

Though t​he article shows that there are challenges in stemistry, it’s not unreasonable to want to discover these certain molecules for the treatment of significant diseases for which the current ones aren’t sufficient enough. The ensuing use of these “hit” molecules depends on other factors as well but the benefit guarantees to be impressive. 

Davies, Stephen G et al. “Stemistry: The Control of Stem Cells in Situ Using Chemistry.” Journal of medicinal chemistry. 58.7 (2015): 2863–2894. https://doi.org/10.1021/jm500838d.