The effects of a particular signal transduction pathway can be very different among distinct cell types. For example, the same signal transduction pathway may promote the survival of one cell type but the maturation of another. This depends both on the nature of a cell but also on its particular state which may change over the course of its lifetime. Identifying cell types where a signal transduction pathway is operational is a first step to uncovering potentially new properties of this pathway.
The STAT3-Ser/Hes3 signaling axis has been shown to operate on various cell types. So far, research has mostly focused on stem cells and cancerous tissue and, more recently, in the function of the endocrine pancreas:
:* Fetal and adult mouse and rat neural stem cells.
:* Adult monkey (rhesus macaque) neural stem cells.
:* Human cancer stem cells from glioblastoma multiforme.
:* In a human prostate cancer cell line, STAT3-Ser was shown to promote tumorigenesis independently of STAT3-Tyr.
:* Chromaffin progenitor cells of the bovine adrenal medulla.
:* Mouse insulinoma cells (MIN6 cell line) and mouse pancreatic islet cells.
:* Mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEF) during reprogramming to the induced pluripotent stem cell state.
:* Human embryonic stem cells
:* Mouse neural stem cells derived from induced pluripotent stem cells.