Derivation of vasculature from embryonic stem cells.

The formation of the multicellular vascular system is critical to the growth, development, and viability of an organism, and many embryonic lethal mouse knockouts are due to vascular defects. Unfortunately, the complex nature, and many cell types involved in vasculogenesis and angiogenesis has stymied in vitro models of vascular formation. This unit describes a system that allows human embryonic stem cells to differentiate and spontaneously form vascular networks via both vasculogenesis and angiogenesis in the context of the three germ layers.