Growth Factor
Growth factor is any of about twenty small proteins that attach to specific receptors on the surface of stem cells in bone marrow and promote differentiation and maturation of these cells into morphotic constituents of blood.
The
most important growth factors are :
- granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (G-CSF)
- granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF)
- platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF)
- erythropoietin (EPO)
- thrombopoietin (TPO)
- myostatin (GDF-8)
For
the last two decades growth factors
have been increasingly used in treatment
of hematologic and oncologic diseases
like :
- granulocytopenia
- myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS)
- leukemias
- aplastic anaemia
- bone marrow transplantation