Sequential roles of BMP-4, VEGF and FGF-2 in generation of CD34+ vascular progenitor cells from human embryonic stem cells under animal product-free condition

npg Cell Research (2008) 18:s108.

2008 IBCB, SIBS, CAS All rights reserved 1001-0602/08 $ 30.00 www.nature.com/cr

Concurrent Session 5

Sequential roles of BMP-4, VEGF and FGF-2 in generation of CD34+ vascular progenitor cells from human embryonic stem cells under animal product-free condition

Hao Bai1, Kang Chen1, Melanie Arzigian1, Zack Z Wang1

1Maine Medical Center Research Institute, Scarborough, ME 04074

Human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) not only have enormous potential as a source of therapeutic tissues, but also provide a unique system for studying human embryonic development, including hematopoietic and cardiovascular lineage commitment. However, there are scientic obstacles that need to be overcome before clinical applications, such as animal product contamination, isolation of desired cell types, and availability of suitable animal models to test cell function. Recently, we established an efcient hESC system for the...