Patent ID: 8507274

Claim:
A method of producing a definitive endoderm cell from a pluripotent stem cell comprising contacting a population of pluripotent stem cells with at least one compound of Formula (I) that activates TGF-β signaling, thereby inducing the differentiation of at least one pluripotent stem cell into a definitive endoderm cell, wherein the definitive endoderm cell expresses Sox17, or HNF3B (FoxA2), or Sox17 and HNF3B (FoxA2) and wherein the compound of formula (I) is: wherein: R 1 and R 2 are independently H, alkyl, alkenyl, alkynyl, aryl, heteroaryl, cyclyl, or cyclyl, each of which can be optionally substituted and/or can be interrupted in the backbone with one or more of O, N, S, S(O), and C(O); R 3 and R 4 are independently H, halogen, alkyl, alkenyl, alkynyl, alkoxy, aryl, heteroaryl, cyclyl, or cyclyl, each of which can be optionally substituted, or R 3 and R 4 together with the carbon to which they are attached from an optionally substituted cyclyl or heterocyclyl; and L is C 1 -C 10 alkylenyl, C 2 -C 10 alkenylenyl, or C 2 -C 10 alkynylenyl, each of which can be optionally substituted and/or can be interrupted in the backbone with one or more of O, N, S, S(O), and C(O).