Efficient induction of osteogenic and chondrogenic progenitors and myogenic progenitors from mouse ES cells in chemically defined medium

Embryonic stem (ES) cells and induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells represent a renewable cellular resources for regenerative therapies. Here, we try to differentiate ES cells to paraxial mesodermal progenitors cells (PMPs), which give rise to osteogenic and chondrogenic progenitors and myogenic progenitors without fetal calf serum. Here, we demonstrate the methods for inducing paraxial mesodermal progenitors efficiently by treatment of BMP4 using PDGFR-a and ECD as markers for purifying them. The BMP4 induced PMPs exhibit fine potentials of differentiation to osto-and chondro-genic cells. Furthermore, early extraction of BMP4 and additional LiCl treatment promote the differentiation of myogenic progenitor cells. Further addition of IGF-1, bFGF and HGF induced the differentiation of PMPs to myocytes in vitro.