title: Differentiation of epidermal keratinocytes from human embryonic stem cells.
abstract: For many years, cell therapies have been hampered by limited availability and inter-batch variability of primary cells. Human embryonic stem cell (hESC) can give rise to specialized cells like keratinocytes and recently emerged as a virtually unlimited source of potential therapeutic cells. However, xenogeneic components in differentiation cocktails have been limiting the clinical potential of hESC-derived keratinocytes (hESCs-Kert). Here, we demonstrated efficient differentiation of H9 human embryonic stem cells (H9-hESCs) into keratinocytes (H9-Kert(ACC)) in an autogenic co-culture system. We used activin as the main factor to induce keratinocyte differentiation. H9-Kert(ACC) expressed keratinocyte markers at mRNA and protein levels. Establishment of such animal-free microenvironment for keratinocyte differentiation will accelerate potential clinical application of hESCs.
authors.affiliation: Oral Sciences Disciplines, Faculty of Dentistry, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore.
authors.forename: Fahad K
authors.initials: FK
authors.lastname: Kidwai
authors.forename: Tong
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Cao
authors.forename: Kai
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Lu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D018920:Coculture Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D053595:Embryonic Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism; D000078404:Epidermal Cells; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D006801:Humans; D015603:Keratinocytes / Q000166:cytology*; D051379:Mice; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D013194:Staining and Labeling