HESC Derived Endothelial Cells Form Blood Vessels Long-Term
    Researchers at Harvard recently reported the formation of durable blood vessels, in vivo, from human embryonic stem cell (ESC) derived progenitors in a Brief Communication in the March 2007 issue of Nature Biotechnology. Most human ESC primary differentiation schemas utilize a 3D embryoid body stage, producing uncontrolled spontaneous differentiation of several germ layers. To counteract this inefficient process, Zack Z. Wang et al. developed a 2D system, simply differentiating hESC colonies in their natural state with 10% fetal bovine serum containing medium, producing 5-10% CD34+ progenitors. To further enrich the population, these CD34+ cells were then sorted with magnetic beads to 80-90% uniformity and subsequently grown as suspension cultures in the presence of hematopoetic and endothelial growth factors to produce mature cell lineages.  Furthermore, when co-injected with mesenchymal precursors into immunodeficient (SCID) mice, these hESC derived endothelial progenitors produced cord like and luminal structures as well as conduits with blood flowing through them suggestive of functional hESC derived blood vessels appropriately integrated within the recipients vascular tree. These results demonstrate evidence for hESC derived progenitors as a potential renewable source of endothelial progenitors to aid in the treatment ischemic regions.  -Dustin R. Wakeman  March 9, 2007
ARTICLE: Wang ZZ, Au P, Chen T, Shao Y, Daheron LM, Bai H, Arzigian M, Fukumura D, Jain RK, Scadden DT.  Nat Biotechnol. 2007 Mar;25(3):317-8. Epub 2007 Feb 25