Authors: Liangtang Wu, Kishore K. Wary, Sergei Revskoy, Xiaopei Gao, Kitman Tsang, Yulia A. Komarova, Jalees Rehman, Asrar B. Malik
Summary:
Endothelial cells derived from differentiation of embryonic stem cells (ESCs) or induced pluripotent cells (iPSCs) hold great promise for regenerating blood vessels in diseases associated with endothelial denudation (Kourembanas, 2014, Yoder, 2012). Studies have described differentiation of endothelial cells from ESCs as mirroring embryonic vascular development (Descamps and Emanueli, 2012, Leeper et al., 2010). The growth factors bone morphogenetic protein-4 (BMP-4), basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF), and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) are required for specifying the transition of ESCs to the mesoderm and then to the endothelial cell fate as defined by the appearance of Flk1, CD31, and VE-cadherin-positive cells (Li et al., 2007, Park et al., 2013).
Source:
Stem Cell Reports; published 25 June 2015