Deciphering Fate Decision in Normal and Cancer Stem Cells: Mathematical Models and Their Experimental Verification - Mathematical Methods and Models in Biomedicine - page 219

Beyond the interest for cancer, manipulating SC fate decision can help in
controlling in vitro developed tissues, engineered for the purpose of transplantation
or designed for experimental research. A model describing the regulation of fate
decision in a tissue in vitro could contribute to optimization of tissue engineering.
For example, analysis of the basic tissue model presented here [ 45 ] suggested the
possibility of evaluating the minimal number of SCs necessary for replenishing an
empty scaffold. Furthermore, the ability to control SC proliferation and differentia-
tion in vitro might help to increase the availability of adult SCs for transplantations.
In addition, the model can be used for exploring other diseases caused by SC
malfunctions.
In conclusion, the presented mathematical models suggest that QS is the key
to SC fate decision regulation, and they also begin to decipher the molecular
mechanisms underlying it. These efforts bring us closer to the goal of controlling
fate decision in real tumors, using mathematical models as tools for quantitative
predictions of the efficacy of concrete therapeutic agents for specific cancer types.
Acknowledgments We thank Yuri Kogan and Karin Halevi-Tobias for helpful discussions and
support, Karen Marron for helpful advice and careful editing of the manuscript, and the Chai
Foundation for supporting the study.
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