title: Highly efficient derivation of skeletal myotubes from human embryonic stem cells.
abstract: Human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) are a promising model for the research of embryonic development and regenerative medicine. Since the first hESC line was established, many researchers have shown that pluripotent hESCs can be directed into many types of functional adult cells in culture. However, most of the reported methods have induced differentiation through the alteration of growth factors in the culture medium. These methods are time consuming; moreover, it is difficult to obtain a pure population of the desired cells because of the low efficiency of induction. In this study, we used a lentiviral-based inducible gene-expression system in hESCs to control the ectopic expression of MyoD, which is an essential transcription factor in skeletal muscle development. The induction of MyoD can efficiently direct the pluripotent hESCs into mesoderm in 24 h. The cells then become proliferated myoblasts and finally form multinucleated myotubes in vitro. The whole procedure took about 10 days, with an induction efficiency of over 90%. To our knowledge, this is the first time that hESCs have been induced into terminally differentiated cells with only one factor. In the future, these results could be a potential resource for cell therapy for diseases of muscle dysfunction.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200031, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Lingjun
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Rao
authors.forename: Wenjie
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.forename: Youzhen
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Bao
authors.forename: Jijun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Haide
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Lixiazi
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: He
authors.forename: Pengfei
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Jiangtao
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ren
authors.forename: Lu
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Zhidong
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Luan
authors.forename: Chun
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cui
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Xiao
mesh_terms: D002454:Cell Differentiation; D002460:Cell Line; D053595:Embryonic Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D016086:Lentivirus; D018485:Muscle Fibers, Skeletal / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D017570:MyoD Protein / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics; D014161:Transduction, Genetic
chemical_list: D017570:MyoD Protein; C057363:MyoD1 myogenic differentiation protein