In Vitro Differentiation of Mouse Embryonic Stem Cells: Hematopoietic and Vascular Cell Types

Embryonic stem cells have been posited as sources of differentiated cell types for regenerative medicine. One of the most enticing cell types is the recently described endothelial progenitor cell (EPC) which can contribute to blood vessels and is a candidate for therapy against vascular diseases. This chapter describes an in vitro differentiation system, which results in the generation of endothelial, smooth muscle, and hematopoietic cells from ES cells. An ES-derived equivalent of the lateral plate mesoderm (LPM) has been generated, a critical source of vascular and hematopoietic cells during embryonic development. This in vitro differentiation system is useful for the analysis of developmental pathways and is highly amenable for the analysis of gene expression at distinct stages of the development of the vascular and hematopoietic lineages from Flk-1+ precursors.