Embryonic stem cell studies have generated great interest, due to their ability to form a wide variety of matured cells. However, there remains a poor understanding of mechanisms regulating the cell state of embryonic stem cells (ESCs) and of the genes they express during early differentiation. Gene expression analysis may be a valuable tool to elucidate either the molecular pathways involved i...

Objective—Vezf1 encodes an early zinc finger transcription factor that is essential for normal vascular development and functions in a dose-dependent manner. Here, we investigated the role of Vezf1 during processes of endothelial cell differentiation and maturation by studying mutant Vezf1 embryonic stem (ES) cells using the in vitro embryoid body differentiation model and the in vivo teratocar...

Transplantable mouse teratomas are known to contain multipotential teratocarcinoma stem cells analogous to early embryo cells and capable of giving rise to a wide variety of specialized cell types in vivo when they attach to a substratum; if they are grown instead in suspension in the body cavity, they form multicellular embryoid bodies which proliferate with little or no cell specialization. T...