Differentiation of Murine Embryonic Stem Cells Into Endothelial Cells

Objective: in this investigation murine embryonic stem (es) cells were differentiatedinto endothelial cells.materialsand methods:murine es cells (cce cell line) exposed to alphamemmedium containing 10% fbs for 4 days. thenobtained flk-1 (flk-1: vascularendothelial growth factor receptor 2) positive cells were cultuted in endothelialgrowth medium-2 (egm-2) until the last day of experiment. differentiatedcellswere evaluated by immunocytochemistry,rt-pcrand tubeformation assays.results:when the es cells cultured in collagen coated dishes containing alpha-mem& fbs, flk-1 positive cells were obtained. aftertransfering flk-1 positivecells into fibronectin coated dishes containing egm2, the cells were assumeda relatively uniform endothelial cell morphology and could be propagated and expanded. immunocytochemical and rt-pcranalysis of differentiatedcellsshowed that they take up acetylated low-density lipoprotein (ldl), express flk-1,cd31 and bind the bs-l lectin. when placed in matrigel, these murine escell–derived endothelial cells formed capillary-like structures characteristic ofendothelial cellsconclusion:es cell–derived endothelial cells provide a novel means to examine themechanisms of endothelial cell development, and may open up new therapeutic strategies.