Small molecule modulation of stem cells in regenerative medicine: recent applications and future direction

Regenerative medicine research is focussed on the discovery of novel therapies (small molecules, biologics or cells) that restore function in damaged or aging tissues and organs. The field is underpinned by developments in stem cell science and the modulation of stem cells using small molecules is now providing unique insights into stem cell regulation and developmental biology. It has been shown that small molecules can be used to help drive somatic cell reprogramming, maintain induced pluripotent states and also directly control lineage specification and proliferation events. Small molecules have the potential to help enable the development of viable cell therapies and small molecule oral drugs can be envisaged that can control endogenous cell populations to support regeneration. This review seeks to illustrate the key role small molecules have to play in modulation of stem cells for regenerative medicine and describes some future potential directions in the field.