Recombinant Human Stem Cell Factor (rHuSCF)

C-kit ligand, the recently identified ligand for the kit tyrosine kinase receptor, is mapped to the mouse S1 locus. This pleiotropic cytokine, alternately known as stem cell factor (SCF), mast cell growth factor (MGF) and steel-factor (SLF), plays essential roles in gametogenesis, melanogenesis and early stages of hematopoiesis. In vitro and in vivo, SCF can stimulate the proliferation of mature, as well as the proliferation and maturation of immature, mast cells. On purified primitive human and mouse hematopoietic precursors, SCF acts in a synergistic manner with various growth factors, such as IL-1, IL-3, IL-6, IL-7, and Epo, to induce myeloid, erythroid and lymphoid lineage colony formation. The finding that SCF is also expressed in the nervous system suggests a possible role for SCF in the development of the nervous system.