BACKGROUND Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) are a leading cause of neurodevelopmental disability. The mechanisms underlying FASD are incompletely understood, and biomarkers to identify those at risk are lacking. Here, we perform metabolomic analysis of embryoid bodies and neural lineages derived from human embryonic stem (hES) cells to identify the neural secretome produced in response t...

We have tested the requirement of keratin intermediate filaments for the formation and function of a simple epithelium. We disrupted both alleles of the mouse keratin 8 (mK8) gene in embryonic stem cells, and subsequently analyzed the phenotype in developing embryoid bodies in suspension culture. After the inactivation of the mouse keratin 8 (mK8) gene by a targeted insertion, mK8 protein synth...

The helix-loop-helix transcription factor, scl, plays an essential role in hematopoietic development. Embryos in which the gene has been disrupted fail to develop yolk sac erythropoiesis, and scl-null embryonic stem cells do not contribute to hematopoiesis in chimeric mice. To analyze the molecular consequences of scl deficiency, we compared the gene expression profiles of control (wild-type an...

Plasminogen activators are believed to play an important role in tissue remodeling and cell migration. During mouse embryogenesis, visceral endoderm secretes urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA) whereas parietal endoderm secretes tissue-type plasminogen activator (tPA). Visceral endoderm from F9 embryoid bodies can transdifferentiate into parietal endoderm under the appropriate culture co...

Hsp47 is a molecular chaperone that specifically recognizes procollagen in the endoplasmic reticulum. Hsp47-null mouse embryos produce immature type I collagen and form discontinuous basement membranes. We established Hsp47-/- embryonic stem cell lines and examined formation of basement membrane and production of type IV collagen in embryoid bodies, a model for postimplantation egg-cylinder sta...