Patent ID: 7592176

Claim:
A method of producing a population of human mesenchymal lineage cells comprising mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and bone precursor cells (BPCs) from human embryonic stem cells (hESCs), the method comprising the steps of: a) culturing hESCs under conditions conducive to form embryoid bodies (EBs); b) propagating the EBs formed in step a) in a mesenchyme-specific medium containing 1.25(OH) 2 D 3 to promote formation of EBs having cells of the mesenchymal lineage; c) digesting the resultant EBs of step b) and culturing the resulting cells in mesenchyme-specific medium to obtain a population of human mesenchymal lineage cells exhibiting spindle shaped morphology, wherein the population is composed of at least 60% human MSCs, and wherein the population exhibits enhanced expression of Cba-1, Msx2, and D1x5 relative to the EBs of step a); and d) propagating the human MSCs produced by step c).