Culturing and manipulating mouse embryonic stem cells

Abstract

Mouse embryonic stem cells (mESC) have the ability to self-renew due to their rapid proliferation and high telomerase activity while maintaining their pluripotency. Depending on the environment, mESC can differentiate into a broad range of cell types. These characteristics have established mESC as a tool for modeling human disease, genetic engineering, lineage specificity, stem cell-based therapies, and tissue regeneration. Here we describe a protocol for mESC expansion and differentiation.