Enhancement of osteogenic and chondrogenic differentiation of human embryonic stem cells by mesodermal lineage induction with BMP-4 and FGF2 treatment.

Recently, it was reported that bone morphogenetic protein 4 (BMP4) alone or BMP4 combined with fibroblast growth factor 2 (FGF2) treatment enhanced mesodermal differentiation of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) that were cultured feeder-free on Matrigel. In this study, we show that mesodermal lineage-induced embryoid bodies (EBs) generate greater numbers of osteogenic and chondrogenic lineage cells. To induce the mesodermal lineage, hESCs were treated with BMP4 and FGF2 during the EB state. Quantitative real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction analysis showed that the treatment decreased endodermal and ectodermal lineage gene expression and increased mesodermal lineage gene expression. Importantly, the mesodermal lineage-induced EBs underwent enhanced osteogenic and chondrogenic differentiation after differentiation induction. This method could be useful to enhance the osteogenic or chondrogenic differentiation of hESCs.