Transcription factor expression can profoundly alter the transcriptional dynamics of a cell, even inducing the transition to a new cell fate. Four transcription factors – Oct4, Sox2, Klf4, and c-Myc...
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Given their developmental importance and therapeutic potential, epicardial cells and epicardium-derived cells are a promising progenitor source to restore functional vasculature, maintain cardiomyocyt...
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Microglia act as the first and main form of active immune defense in the central nervous system. They are the primary source of brain cytokines and have been implicated in chronic neuroinflammation (e...
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Endothelial cells (ECs) are vital to blood vessel formation. Generating ECs from human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) has powerful potential for cardiovascular health and drug development. However, st...
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Generating cardiovascular cells from pluripotent stem cells holds profound promise for research and therapy, and the past 10 years have witnessed rapid methodological advances for creating de novo hum...
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Converting one type of cell to another with no intermediate pluripotent stage is called lineage reprogramming. The method has been used to ‘reprogram’ mouse fibroblasts to cardiomyocytes (heart mu...
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The substrate on which cells are cultured is key to successful growth and tissue generation. For example, it has been shown that attachment to a substrate by human embryonic stem cells influences whet...
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Oligodendrocytes are a type of brain cell in the central nervous system that produces myelin, a fatty substance that wraps around and insulates neurons. These myelin ‘sheaths’ help conduct nerve i...
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Human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs), either embryonic or induced, provide access to the earliest stages of human development. They also offer a starting point for deriving large numbers of vasculogen...
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Endothelial cells derived from human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) hold incredible potential for human health, for example, in the engineering of new blood vessels, heart regeneration and screening f...
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With the advent of human pluripotent stem cell technologies, endothelial and blood lineage (hematopoietic) cells can be produced in vitro for functional studies and therapies. Efficient differentiatio...
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How and why precursor cells differentiate into tissue-specific cell types involves a complex interplay of signals and remains a rich topic of investigation. Outside of the body, for example, certain s...
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Embryonic stem cells are undifferentiated cells that can differentiate into a number of progenitor cell types. A trophoblast is a differentiated cell that is a precursor of the cells which participate...
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Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are precursors to mesenchymal tissues, such as bone, dental tissue, cartilage, tendon, bone marrow stroma, hematopoietic lineages, and muscle. Bone marrow is a useful sou...
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Dendritic cells are used as a base for vaccines and in the study of antigen processing within the human body. However, obtaining large quantities of the cells, which are generated in bone marrow, is l...
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Type I diabetes, one of the most common autoimmune diseases in humans, is caused by destruction of pancreatic islet beta cells. Although its symptoms can be controlled, the disease is irreversible. ...
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Human embryonic stem (hES) cells have the potential to provide a source of specific cell types for research and ultimately, for therapeutic transplantation into humans.
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