Differentiation of mesodermal cells from pluripotent stem cells

The pluripotency of embryonic stem cells has been well demonstrated by a vast variety of studies showing the induction of differentiation into desired cell types that have the potential to be used not only in basic studies but also in medical applications. The induction of mesodermal cells, especially blood cells, from embryonic stem cells is notable from the point of view of transplantation, and the methods for this induction have improved over the last few years, with more defined culture conditions in place. Concurrently, the generation of induced pluripotent stem cells from somatic cells opens the possibility of autologous transplantation. In fact, there are a growing number of reports demonstrating that several mesodermal cells can be differentiated from induced pluripotent stem cells using the same methods used for embryonic stem cells. This review summarizes recent advances in the differentiation of mesodermal cells from embryonic stem cells and induced pluripotent stem cells.