Inner cell mass differentiation patterns in an extended culture system aimed at production of embryonic stem cells

Abstract

Embryonic stem cells offer a promising therapeutic option for several chronic degenerative disorders but their isolation from the inner cell mass (ICM) as single totipotent cells is not easy. This requires different steps that include plating the embryos on a mouse embryonic fibroblast layer, hatching, attachment to these feeder cells, isolation of inner cell mass from trophectoderm, and the generation of cluster colonies of undifferentiated cells defined as totipotent. This work describes a simple method of plating mammalian blastocysts for isolation of embryonic stem cells.