title: Derivation and characterization of human embryonic stem cell lines from the Chinese population.
abstract: Human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) can self-renew indefinitely and differentiate into all cell types in the human body. Therefore, they are valuable in regenerative medicine, human developmental biology and drug discovery. A number of hESC lines have been derived from the Chinese population, but limited of them are available for research purposes. Here we report the derivation and characterization of two hESC lines derived from human blastocysts of Chinese origin. These hESCs express alkaline phosphatase and hESC-specific markers, including Oct4, Nanog, SSEA-3, SSEA-4, TRA-1-60 and TRA-1-81. They also have high levels of telomerase activity and normal karyotypes. These cells can form embryoid body in vitro and can be differentiated into all three germ layers in vivo by teratoma formation. The newly established hESCs will be distributed for research purposes. The availability of hESC lines from the Chinese population will facilitate studies on the differences in hESCs from different ethnic groups.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Molecular Cell Biology, Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Cell Bank, Stem Cell Bank, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200031, China.
authors.forename: Zhao
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Hui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Lingjun
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Rao
authors.forename: Lixiazi
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: He
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Bao
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liao
authors.forename: Chun
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cui
authors.forename: Zhenyu
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zuo
authors.forename: Qiao
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Huimin
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Dai
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Qian
authors.forename: Qing
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Tian
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Xiao
authors.forename: Xiaojun
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Tan
mesh_terms: D044466:Asian People; D018070:Biological Specimen Banks; D001755:Blastocyst / Q000166:cytology; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D002460:Cell Line; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D002469:Cell Separation; D015925:Cryopreservation; D016172:DNA Fingerprinting; D053595:Embryonic Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism*; D016591:Histocytological Preparation Techniques; D006801:Humans