A Site-Specific Integrated Col2.3GFP Reporter Identifies Osteoblasts Within Mineralized Tissue Formed In Vivo by Human Embryonic Stem Cells.

The use of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) and induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) for study and treatment of bone diseases or traumatic bone injuries requires efficient protocols to differentiate hESCs/iPSCs into cells with osteogenic potential and the ability to isolate differentiated osteoblasts for analysis. We have used zinc finger nuclease technology to deliver a construct containing the Col2.3 promoter driving GFPemerald to the AAVS1 site (referred to as a "safe harbor" site), in human embryonic stem cells (H9Zn2.

Specification of region-specific neurons including forebrain glutamatergic neurons from human induced pluripotent stem cells.

Background: Directed differentiation of human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSC) into functional, region-specific neural cells is a key step to realizing their therapeutic promise to treat various neural disorders, which awaits detailed elucidation.

Methodology/principal Findings: We analyzed neural differentiation from various hiPSC lines generated by others and ourselves. Although heterogeneity in efficiency of neuroepithelial (NE) cell differentiation was observed among different hiPSC lines, the NE differentiation process resembles that from human embryonic stem cells (hESC) in morphology, timing, transcriptional profile, and requirement for FGF signaling.