Abstract
Human embryonic stem cells have the capacity for self-renewal and pluripotency and thus are a primary candidate for tissue engineering and regenerative therapies. These cells also provide an opportunity to study the development of human tissues ex vivo. To date, numerous human embryonic stem cell lines have been derived and characterized. In this review, we will detail the strategies used to direct tissue-specific differentiation of embryonic stem cells. We also will discuss how these strategies have produced new sources of tissue-specific progenitor cells. Finally, we will describe the next generation of methods being developed to identify and select stem cell-derived tissue precursors for experimental study and clinical use.
Highlights
Stem cells have the ability to maintain long-term proliferation and self-renewal
Human embryonic stem cells are pluripotent cells that can differentiate into all types of somatic – and, in some cases, extraembryonic – tissues
Differentiating Human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) are applied to a discontinuous Percoll gradient consisting of 40.5% Percoll layered over 58.5% Percoll
Summary
Stem cells have the ability to maintain long-term proliferation and self-renewal. Under specific conditions, stem cells can differentiate into a diverse population of mature and functionally specialized cell types. Cre-mediated homologous recombination has been used to generate two cardiac reporter lines, one using the second heart field-specific Islet-1 promoter directing dsRed expression in H9 hESCs [81] and another recently described pair of hESC lines in which the promoter of the early cardiac transcription factor NKX2-5 was used to drive eGFP expression in MEL1 (male) and HES3 (female) cells [88] While these accomplishments demonstrate that the various unrelated ESC lines currently available are all amenable to homologous recombination, optimal targeting vector designs and selection strategies are still being explored. This technology holds great promise for its ability to exploit functional biosensors [94,95,96,97], such as dual-FRET molecular beacons [6], to identify specific stem cell differentiation states of therapeutic value
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