Cardiac differentiation is modulated by anti-apoptotic signals in murine embryonic stem cells

Figure 1 B-cell lymphoma 2, metallothionein-1, and Pim-2 overexpression decreases the embryoid body sizes of mouse embryonic stem cells. A and B: Mouse embryonic stem cells (ESCs) were trypsinized, aggregated into embryoid bodies (EBs) by hanging drop method, and then plated for terminal differentiation. Representative bright field images of mESC-T2, mESC-B-cell lymphoma 2, mESC-metallothionein-1, and mESC-PIM-2 (20 × magnification, scale bar = 100 μm) (A), and the average sizes of EBs are shown (B). Results are expressed as average sizes of EBs in each condition relative to the control. Data represent the average of three independent experiments and are reported as the mean ± standard error of the mean (^aP < 0.05). mESC: Mouse embryonic stem cell; BCL-2: B-cell lymphoma 2; MET-1: Metallothionein-1; EBs: Embryoid bodies.