Reparative Medicine: Production of Erythrocytes & Platelets from Human Embryonic Stem Cells.

摘要

This project was focused on production of megakaryocytes and platelets from human pluripotent stem cells - originally human embryonic stem cells (hESC), but subsequently, as the technology became available, from human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSC). We developed a serum-free system, and also created our own cell-free extracellular matrix extracts instead of live feeder cells to support hESC and hiPSC growth and maintenance, followed by feeder cell-free cultures to create embryoid bodies, then mesenchymal cells, which then were induced to differentiate into functional megakaryocytes and platelets.