Patent ID: 7585672

Claim:
A method to enrich a culture derived from human embryonic stem cells for cells of endoderm and pancreatic lineages, the method comprising the steps of (a) culturing intact colonies of human embryonic stem cells to form whole, intact embryoid bodies surrounded by visceral yolk sac (VYS) cells, wherein the human embryonic stem cells express Oct-4, surface stage-specific embryonic antigen-3/4 (SSEA 3/4) and epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM); (b) culturing the embryoid bodies of step (a) under conditions that permit the embryoid body cells to differentiate into a cell population containing cells of the endoderm and pancreatic lineages; (c) dispersing the cell population of step (b) into single cells; (d) selecting against the expression of SSEA 3/4 positive cells to remove undifferentiated cells from the cells of step (c); (e) selecting against the expression of SSEA-1 positive cells to remove VYS cells from the remaining cells of step (d); and (f) selecting from among the remaining cells of step (e) for the expression of EpCAM positive cells to enrich for cells of endoderm and pancreatic lineages.