6. CHAPTER-4: Evaluation of the effects of embryotoxic drugs on cell proliferation and germ layer-specific differentiation in hESC

Over the last few years the field of pluripotent stem cell research has witnessed a robust paradigm shift from regenerative medicine towards drug screening. ESC has emerged as an attractive model in the pharmaceutical industry for in vitro screening of compounds due to their enormous potential in facilitating drug discovery programs. These cells are advantageous over primary or immortalized cell lines for being able to maintain their unlimited proliferation capacity, pluripotency, cytogenetic stability and potential to generate derivatives belonging to all three germ lineages. These unique features make them a readily available source of human cells. Further, since ESC follow the same developmental pathways and recapitulate gene expression patterns of a developing embryo; this in vitro model could theoretically be employed to understand the appropriate target and exact mechanism of developmental toxicity (Krtolica et al., 2009).