We have developed a rapid, bead-based combinatorial screening method to determine optimal combinations of variables that direct stem cell differentiation to produce known or novel cell types having pre-determined characteristics. Here we describe three experiments comprising stepwise exposure of mouse or human embryonic cells to 10,000 combinations of serum-free differentiation media, through w...

Aneuploid embryos diagnosed by FISH-based preimplantation genetic screening (PGS) have been shown to yield euploid lines of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) with a relatively high frequency. Given that the diagnostic procedure is usually based on the analysis of 1-2 blastomeres of 5 to 10-cell cleavage-stage embryos, mosaicism has been a likely explanation for the phenomena. However, FISH-bas...

GLI proteins, highly conserved in vertebrates and invertebrates, are critical in modulating embryonic development and adult tissue homeostasis. These proteins are zinc-finger-containing transcription factors that were originally identified by genetic screening of embryonic lethal mutants of Drosophila melanogaster. Alterations in GLI activity can lead to tumor development in tissues of differen...

background: the transcription factor oct-4, is an important marker of undifferentiating level and a key regulating factor for maintenance of pluripotency in cells. establishment of an oct-4 promoter-based reporter system is an appropriate tool for monitoring the differentiation of embryonic stem cells both in vivo and in vitro. methods: in the present study, we report construction of a recombin...

The embryonic stem cell test (EST) is a validated in vitro alternative test for prediction of embryotoxicity with inhibition of cardiomyocyte differentiation under the microscope as beating areas at day 10 as an endpoint. However, improvements are necessary for regulatory acceptance and application to high-throughput screening. We have previously reported that heart and neural crest derivatives...

Human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) are able to stably maintain their characteristics for an unlimited period; nevertheless, substantial differences among cell lines in gene and protein expression not manifested during the undifferentiated state may appear when cells differentiate. It is widely accepted that developing an efficient protocol to control the differentiation of hESCs will enable us ...

bone tissue engineering has been one of the most promising areas of research, providing a potential clinical application to cure bone defects. recently, various stem cells, including embryonic stem cells (escs), bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (bm-mscs), umbilical cord blood-derived mesenchymal stem cells (ucb-mscs), adipose tissue-derived stem cells (adscs), muscle-derived stem cell...

background: embryonic stem cells (esc) are pluripotent cells which have been used as a model to study the mechanism that control the embryogenesis and early mammalian development in vitro. the aim of this study was to isolate and produce embryonic stem cells from late blastocyst stage embryos in mice. materials and methods: blastocyst stage embryos from pregnant nmri mice were obtained and cult...