Protein tyrosine phosphatase regulation of stem and progenitor cell biology.

This review surveys the contributions of protein tyrosine phosphatases (PTPs) to maintenance and differentiation of stem and progenitor cells. A diverse family of PTPs acts at multiple steps of signaling cascades and cellular locales. Their activities as signaling modifiers provide another layer of integration of signaling pathways, which functionally link to the cellular activity and ultimately converge into the regulation of stem and progenitor cell fates. The development of agents targeting PTPs is a growing endeavor that will benefit stem cell biology and offer promising therapeutic strategies.