title: Differentiation and characterization of embryonic stem cells into three germ layers.
abstract: Embryonic stem cells differentiated on M15 cells have previously been shown to give rise to cells of the mesendodermal and definitive endodermal lineages. Here we demonstrate that neuroectodermal and mesodermal lineages can be derived from ES cells cultured on M15 cells and subsequently subjected to specific culture conditions, as confirmed by the expression of molecular markers. Prospective isolation and microarray analyses showed that neuroectodermal cells expressed anterior-to-posterior, as well as dorso-ventral regional markers, suggesting that this procedure could be used for the induction of cells belonging to a wide variety of neural lineages. Lateral mesoderm and paraxial mesoderm cells were also produced and their gene expression profiles were confirmed by microarray analyses. These results indicate that the M15 cell system provides a valuable tool for generating ES cell-derived lineage-specific cell types belonging to the three germ layers, namely neuroectoderm, mesoderm, and definitive endoderm.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Molecular Embryology and Genetics, Kumamoto University, Japan.
authors.forename: Nobuaki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Shiraki
authors.forename: Yuichiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Higuchi
authors.forename: Seiko
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Harada
authors.forename: Kahoko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Umeda
authors.forename: Takayuki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Isagawa
authors.forename: Hiroyuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Aburatani
authors.forename: Kazuhiko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kume
authors.forename: Shoen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kume
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D002460:Cell Line; D002469:Cell Separation; D053595:Embryonic Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology*; D005855:Germ Layers / Q000166:cytology*; D051379:Mice