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First published online March 2, 2004

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Order out of chaos: human ES cell differentiation

The recent development of human embryonic stem (ES) cells has brought the prospect of regenerative medicine a step closer. But before human ES cells can be used as a source of replacement human tissues, their spontaneous, chaotic differentiation into many somatic and extra-embryonic cell types in vitro has to be brought under control. On p. 1269, Martin Pera and colleagues report that bone morphogenetic protein 2 (BMP-2) controls a key early commitment step in human ES cell differentiation. They show that endogenous signalling by BMP-2, a member of the transforming growth factor b (TGFß) superfamily, controls the differentiation of ES cells into cells with the properties of extraembryonic endoderm. Treatment with noggin, a BMP-2 antagonist, blocks the differentiation of this cell type; instead, a population of cells that can give rise to neural precursors is formed. These results suggest that modulation of BMP-2 signalling could provide a way to direct human ES cells into specific embryonic lineages.

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Regulation of human embryonic stem cell differentiation by BMP-2 and its antagonist noggin

Martin F. Pera, Jessica Andrade, Souheir Houssami, Benjamin Reubinoff, Alan Trounson, Edouard G. Stanley, Dorien Ward-van Oostwaard, and Christine Mummery
JCS 2004 117: 1269-1280. [Abstract] [Full Text]  

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Related articles in JCS Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?