Differentiation of human embryonic stem cells toward the chondrogenic lineage.

Human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) have the ability to self-replicate and differentiate into cells from all three embryonic germ layers, thereby holding great promise for tissue regeneration applications. However, controlling the differentiation of hESCs and obtaining homogenous differentiated cell populations still remain a challenge. We present a highly efficient and reproducible experimental system that mimics the three-dimensional (3-D) environment of in vivo chondrogenesis and that supports the directed differentiation of human embryoid body (EB)-derived cells toward the chondrogenic lineage under serum-free chondrogenic culture conditions in the presence of bone morphogenetic protein-2 (BMP-2).