Fast In Vitro Procedure to Identify Extraembryonic Differentiation Defect of Mouse Embryonic Stem Cells

Abstract

Mouse embryonic stem cells (mESCs) are a powerful model to study early mouse development. These blastocyst-derived cells can maintain pluripotency and differentiate into the three embryonic germ layers and an extraembryonic layer, the extraembryonic endoderm (ExEn), which shares similar molecular markers to the definitive endoderm. Here, we present a fast procedure to identify a differentiation defect of mESCs toward ExEn in vitro through the molecular and cellular characterization of embryoid bodies, followed by direct differentiation of mESCs into ExEn.