Early mesoderm cells, a stable population of mesendoderm cells that has utility for generation of endoderm and mesoderm lineages and multipotent migratory cells (MMC)
The present invention relates to the production of multipotent migratory cell (MMCs) which can be differentiated into mesoderm or endoderm lineages. Multipotent Migratory Cells (MMC) are stable and robust and can be passaged at least 20 times (perhaps indefinitely), can be recovered after freezing, reamplified and differentiated into multiple lineages. They are therefore storage stable. The method of producing these cells points to a way to generate a multipotent cell type (mesendoderm) from blastocycts for the generation of therapeutically useful cell types without going through a classical hESC state. The production of multipotent migratory cells, mesendoderm cells and mesoderm cells (Isl1+) is also described.
