ABSTRACT
This chapter presents a growth factor, bone morphogenetic protein 4 (BMP), that can drive human embryonic stem (ES) cells synchronously and uniformly to differentiate toward a trophoblast lineage. The trophectoderm of the pre-implantation primate blastocyst rapidly differentiates to multiple trophoblast phenotypes following attachment and initial invasion of the uterine endometrium. Trophoblast phenotypes include a multinucleated syncytiotrophoblast with critical endocrine activity in support of the ovarian progesterone to sustain the uterine endometrium in early pregnancy. Human ES cell lines have been derived from blastocyst-stage preimplantation embryos produced by in vitro fertilization. Human and non-human primate ES cells express characteristic cell surface markers, including stage specific embryonic antigens, in a pattern quite distinct from rodent ES cell marker expression. BMPs are members of the transforming growth factor beta super family and embryonic morphogens that have profound influences on patterning and polarity in embryonic development in vertebrates from Xenopus through mammals.
