title: Propagation and maintenance of undifferentiated human embryonic stem cells.
abstract: Human embryonic stem (hES) cells, like other stem cells, have the capacity to self-renew without differentiation. Although hES cells can be differentiated to many different tissue types in vitro, clinical uses have not yet been realized from the study of hES cells. Anticipation that these cells would be immediately useful for creating models of human disease has not yet been fulfilled. However, because of their self-renewing and pluripotential nature, hES cells indeed hold unique promise for many areas of research and medicine. A major problem complicating developments in hES cell research is the difficulty of propagating and maintaining these cells in vitro without differentiation. This review addresses this problem and potential solutions in detail. In addition, the current state of research regarding the growth and maintenance of hES cells is summarized, along with basic protocols utilized by our laboratory for the successful propagation, characterization, and investigation of hES cells.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA.
authors.forename: Megan S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Bodnar
authors.forename: Juanito J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Meneses
authors.forename: Ryan T
authors.initials: RT
authors.lastname: Rodriguez
authors.forename: Meri T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Firpo
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D018929:Cell Culture Techniques; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D048430:Cell Shape; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D004622:Embryo, Mammalian / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D005347:Fibroblasts / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D015870:Gene Expression; D006801:Humans; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology; D013724:Teratoma / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology