Cells grown in serum and LIF can differentiate: they spontaneously generate differentiated cells in culture because they are heterogeneous with respect to the expression of a variety of pluripotency-associated genes, and hence are heterogeneous in their immediate differentiation potential.
In turn, basal/myoepithelial progenitors generate differentiated myoepithelial cells, whereas luminal progenitors differentiate into ductal luminal cells or generate alveolar luminal cells in response to pregnancy hormones [ 17, 35].
Furthermore, Dicer-null NS cells are incapable of generating differentiated progeny, whereas glioma cells typically can differentiate to neurons or glia in vitro [48].
Taken together, these results demonstrate that the phase of the cell cycle during which hESCs initiate their differentiation can influence their capacity to generate differentiated cells and underlines the importance of cell-cycle regulation in the mechanisms controlling cell fate decisions.
While modelling the early steps of embryonic development in vitro may provide the best approach for generating differentiated cells with native properties, devising protocols for differentiation of pluripotent stem cells is largely an empirical task.
Thus, Hoxb1b is not generally required in neuropeithelial progenitors to proliferate or to generate differentiated neurons.
Since ACD generate differentiated cells from stem and progenitor cells across species, it was attractive to speculate that conserved regulators of ACD, such as Lgl1, regulate early steps in OL differentiation.
Embryonic Stem cells have the capacity to make any cell type present in an organism, and as such are the most powerful source of cells to generate differentiated cells and tissues in vitro for transplantation purposes.
In contrast to FSK, 2% (vol/vol) DMSO applied for 72 h failed to enhance BC formation in HepaRG cells (Supplementary Fig. S1), which fully agrees with the fact that a DMSO-treatment for 2 weeks is commonly required to generate differentiated HepaRG cells1.
