Chemical genomics approach to human embryonic stem cell-self renewal

人类胚胎干细胞（hESC）和诱导多能细胞有潜力为再生医学提供无限的组织来源。为此，在无饲养层条件下开发确定的/无异种的培养系统对于hESC的扩增是必不可少的。用于培养hESC的大多数成分确定的/无异种的培养基含有碱性成纤维细胞生长因子（bFGF）。因此，认为bFGF对于未分化状态的hESC的扩增具有几乎必不可少的作用。在这里，我们报告鉴定的小分子，其中一些是神经递质拮抗剂（曲米帕明和ethopropazine），促进长期的人胚胎干细胞自我更新没有bFGF的介质。hESC保持多能性标记物的高表达水平，在20代后具有正常的核型，并且可以分化为所有三个胚层。

Human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) and induced pluripotent cells have the potential to provide an unlimited source of tissues for regenerative medicine. For this purpose, development of defined/xeno-free culture systems under feeder-free conditions is essential for the expansion of hESCs. Most defined/xeno-free media for the culture of hESCs contain basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF). Therefore, bFGF is thought to have an almost essential role for the expansion of hESCs in an undifferentiated state. Here, we report identification of small molecules, some of which were neurotransmitter antagonists (trimipramine and ethopropazine), which promote long-term hESC self-renewal without bFGF in the medium. The hESCs maintained high expression levels of pluripotency markers, had a normal karyotype after 20 passages, and could differentiate into all three germ layers.