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Directed Differentiation of Hemogenic Endothelial Cells from Human Pluripotent Stem Cells
04:23

Directed Differentiation of Hemogenic Endothelial Cells from Human Pluripotent Stem Cells

Published on: March 31, 2021

The homeobox gene HEX regulates proliferation and differentiation of hemangioblasts and endothelial cells during ES

Atsushi Kubo1, Vincent Chen, Marion Kennedy

  • 1Department of Gene and Cell Medicine, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY 10029, USA.

Blood
|February 25, 2005
PubMed

In this report we have investigated the role of the homeobox gene Hex in the development and differentiation of the blast colony-forming cell (BL-CFC), a progenitor with hemangioblast characteristics generated in embryonic stem (ES) cell-derived embryoid bodies (EBs). Molecular analysis showed that Hex is expressed in mesoderm, in populations that contain BL-CFCs, and in blast cell colonies, the progeny of the BL-CFCs. Hex(-/-) EBs displayed a defect in macrophage development but generated higher numbers of BL-CFCs than did wild-type EBs. In addition to differences in these progenitor populations, we also found that endothelial cells from the Hex(-/-) EBs showed enhanced proliferative potential compared with those from wild-type EBs. Forced expression of Hex at the onset of ES cell differentiation resulted in reduced EB cellularity, fetal liver kinase-1 (Flk-1) expression, and BL-CFC development. Taken together, these findings demonstrate that Hex functions at multiple stages of development within the differentiating EBs and uncover a novel role for this transcription factor as a negative regulator of the hemangioblast and the endothelial lineage.

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