Establishment, Characterization and Differentiation of Human Embryonic Stem Cells into Three Germ Layers

Human embryonic stem (hES) cells derived from the inner cell mass (ICM) of the blastocyst hold great promise for future use in various research areas, such as human developmental biology and cell-based therapies. These cells are pluripotent and are capable of indefinite proliferation in vitro in an undifferentiated state. Assessment of the surface markers and RT-PCR analysis of gene expression patterns confirm the pluripotent status. Further, genotyping of hES cells provide their unique identification. These ES cells maintain a normal karyotype through unlimited period in culture and exhibit high telomerase activity. The embryonic stem cells also retain the ability, throughout the culture, to differentiate into diverse tissue types representative of three embryonic germ layers including ectoderm, mesoderm and endoderm. A pure population of the differentiated cells has an enormous potential for cell replacement therapy and can also be utilized for pharmaceutical interventions and cell based assays for drug discovery and in vitro toxicity testing. Here, we report the establishment and characterization of one of our cell lines, ReliCell®hES1. Further, we demonstrate the in vitro differentiation potential of the reported cell line into the three embryonic germ layers.