Preparation of Mouse Embryonic Stem Cells and Cardiomyocyte Differentiation Induced with Retinoic Acid and Ascorbic Acid

The experiment was designed to study effects of retinoic acid and ascorbic acid on differentiation of mouse embryonic stem cells to cardiomyocytes. Embryonic bodies (EB) were developed from mESC in suspension culture, different levels of concentration of retinoic acid and ascorbic acid were used to determine the optimal conditions for EB formation. The results showed that the optimal concentrations were 10−9 mol
• L−1 and 0.1 mg
• mL−1 for retinoic acid and ascorbic acids, respectively. 50% of EB which was significantly (p<0.05) different from the control group developed to cardiomyocytes. In conclusion, retinoic acid and ascorbic acid had strong ability to promote cardiomyocyte differentiation of mouse embryonic stem cells. 10−9 mol
• L−1 retinoic acid and 0.10 mg
• mL−1 ascorbic acids were recommended to induce differentiation of mouse ES cells toward cardiomyocytes.