SCF Antibody / KITLG / Stem Cell Factor

Stem Cell Factor (also known as SCF, kit-ligand, KL, or steel factor) is a cytokine that binds to the c-Kit receptor (CD117) . The SCF gene is mapped to 12q21.32. SCF can exist both as a transmembrane protein and a soluble protein. This cytokine plays an important role in hematopoiesis (formation of blood cells), spermatogenesis, and melanogenesis. SCF may be used along with other cytokines to culture HSCs and hematopoietic progenitors. The expansion of these cells ex-vivo (outside the body) would allow advances in bone-marrow transplantation, in which HSCs are transferred to a patient to re-establish blood formation. One of the problems of injecting SCF for therapeutic purposes is that SCF activates mast cells. The injection of SCF has been shown to cause allergic-like symptoms and the proliferation of mast cells and melanocytes.