Ephrin receptor, EphB4, regulates ES cell differentiation of primitive mammalian hemangioblasts, blood, cardiomyocytes, and blood vessels.

Differentiation of pluripotent embryonic stem (ES) cells is associated with expression of fate-specifying gene products. Coordinated development, however, must involve modifying factors that enable differentiation and growth to adjust in response to local microenvironmental determinants. We report here that the ephrin receptor, EphB4, known to be spatially restricted in expression and critical for organized vessel formation, modifies the rate and magnitude of ES cells acquiring genotypic and phenotypic characteristics of mesodermal tissues.

Receptor tyrosine kinase, EphB4 (HTK), accelerates differentiation of select human hematopoietic cells.

EphB4 (HTK) and its ligand, ephrinB2, are critical for angiogenesis and result in fatal abnormalities of capillary formation in null mice. EphB4 was originally identified in human bone marrow CD34(+) cells by us and has since been reported to be expressed in erythroid progenitors, whereas the ligand ephrinB2 is expressed in bone marrow stromal cells. Reasoning that the developmental relationship between angiogenesis and hematopoiesis implies common regulatory molecules, we assessed whether EphB4 signaling influences the function and phenotype of primitive human hematopoietic cells.