Showing papers by "Ludovic Vallier published in 2004"
TL;DR: Analysis of the Nodal-expressing phenotype suggests a function for the transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta) growth factor superfamily in pluripotency and in early cell fate decisions leading to primary tissue layers during in vitro development of pluripotent human stem cells.
400 citations
TL;DR: A simple and efficient approach using lipofection to transfect hES cells, which enabled it to generate hES cell lines expressing naturally fluorescent green or red proteins without affecting cell pluripotency, and it was demonstrated that stable expression of siRNA could knock down the expression of endogenous genes.
Abstract: It is widely recognized that gain- and loss-of-function approaches are essential for understanding the functions of specific genes, and such approaches would be particularly valuable in studies involving human embryonic stem (hES) cells. We describe a simple and efficient approach using lipofection to transfect hES cells, which enabled us to generate hES cell lines expressing naturally fluorescent green or red proteins without affecting cell pluripotency. We used these cell lines to establish a means of diminishing gene function using small interfering (si)RNAs, which were effective at knocking down gene expression in hES cells. We then demonstrated that stable expression of siRNA could knock down the expression of endogenous genes. Application of these gain- and loss-of-function approaches should have widespread use, not only in revealing the developmental roles of specific human genes, but also for their utility in modulating differentiation.
126 citations
TL;DR: It is proposed that the native embryonic pathway leading to the definitive endoderm lineage, and continuing on to the endocrine pancreas, is the one most likely to succeed for the in vitro differentiation of embryonic stem cells.
64 citations