Comparative study of hematopoietic differentiation between human embryonic stem cell lines.

• Main Authors: Heather Melichar, Ou Li, Jenny Ross, Hilary Haber, Dragana Cado, Hector Nolla, Ellen A Robey, Astar Winoto
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2011-01-01
• Series: PLoS ONE
• Online Access: http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3095633?pdf=render

Directed differentiation of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) into any desired cell type has been hailed as a therapeutic promise to cure many human diseases. However, substantial roadblocks still exist for in vitro differentiation of hESCs into distinct cell types, including T lymphocytes. Here we examined the hematopoietic differentiation potential of six different hESC lines. We compare their ability to develop into CD34(+) or CD34(+)CD45(+) hematopoietic precursor populations under several differentiation conditions. Comparison of lymphoid potential of hESC derived- and fetal tissue derived-hematopoietic precursors was also made. We found diverse hematopoietic potential between hESC lines depending on the culture or passage conditions. In contrast to fetal-derived hematopoietic precursors, none of the CD34(+) precursors differentiated from hESCs were able to develop further into T cells. These data underscore the difficulties in the current strategy of hESC forward differentiation and highlight distinct differences between CD34(+) hematopoietic precursors generated in vitro versus in vivo.