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Updated: Mar 27, 2026
Derivation of Cardiac Progenitor Cells from Embryonic Stem Cells
Published on: January 12, 2015
CD13 and ROR2 Permit Isolation of Highly Enriched Cardiac Mesoderm from Differentiating Human Embryonic Stem Cells
Rhys J P Skelton1, Bevin Brady2, Suhail Khoja3
1Division of Cardiology, Department of Internal Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, 675 Charles E Young Drive South, Room 3645, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA; Eli and Edythe Broad Stem Cell Research Center, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA; Murdoch Children's Research Institute, The Royal Children's Hospital, Parkville, VIC 3052, Australia.
Abstract:
The generation of tissue-specific cell types from human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) is critical for the development of future stem cell-based regenerative therapies. Here, we identify CD13 and ROR2 as cell-surface markers capable of selecting early cardiac mesoderm emerging during hESC differentiation. We demonstrate that the CD13+/ROR2+ population encompasses pre-cardiac mesoderm, which efficiently differentiates to all major cardiovascular lineages. We determined the engraftment potential of CD13+/ROR2+ in small (murine) and large (porcine) animal models, and demonstrated that CD13+/ROR2+ progenitors have the capacity to differentiate toward cardiomyocytes, fibroblasts, smooth muscle, and endothelial cells in vivo. Collectively, our data show that CD13 and ROR2 identify a cardiac lineage precursor pool that is capable of successful engraftment into the porcine heart. These markers represent valuable tools for further dissection of early human cardiac differentiation, and will enable a detailed assessment of human pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiac lineage cells for potential clinical applications.
