Yu C, Liu YX, Miao ZC, Yin M, Lu W, Lv YX, Ding MX, Deng HK*, Retinoic acid enhances the generation of hematopoietic progenitors from human embryonic stem cell-derived hemato-vascular precursors, BLOOD, 116(23):4786-94, 2010.

Abstract Current induction schemes directing hematopoietic differentiation of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) are not well defined to mimic the sequential stages of hematopoietic development in vivo. Here, we report a 3-stage method to direct differentiation of hESCs toward hematopoietic progenitors in chemically defined mediums. In the first 2 stages, we efficiently generated T-positive primitive streak/mesendoderm cells and kinase domain receptor-positive (KDR(+)) platelet-derived growth factor receptor α-negative (PDGFRα(-)) hemato-vascular precursors sequentially. In the third stage, we found that cells in a spontaneous differentiation condition mainly formed erythroid colonies. Addition of all-trans retinoic acid (RA) greatly enhanced generation of hematopoietic progenitors in t......