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Generation of Aggregates of Mouse Embryonic Stem Cells that Show Symmetry Breaking, Polarization and Emergent Collective Behaviour In Vitro
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Embryonic stem cell-derived embryoid bodies: an in vitro model of eutherian pregastrulation development and early

G Weitzer1

  • 1Max F. Perutz Laboratories, Department of Medical Biochemistry, Division of Molecular Cell Biology, University Institutes at the Vienna Biocenter, Medical University of Vienna, Austria. georg.weitzer@univie.ac.at

Handbook of Experimental Pharmacology
|December 24, 2005
PubMed

In this review, I describe the dawn of embryoid body research and the influence of stem cell properties on embryoid body development. I will focus on the in vitro differentiation of embryonic stem cells in embryoid bodies. I summarize and combine published data for embryo-like development of embryoid bodies, and based on these findings, I will discuss open questions, concerns, and possible future directions of this still emerging field of research. I hope to provide new perspectives and experimental approaches that go beyond the current state of the art to foster an understanding of eutherian embryogenesis and provide clues for the efficient production of somatic cells for cell therapy.

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