Part E: Directed Differentiation of Human Embryonic Stem Cells into Lymphocytes

Lymphocytes develop in a sequential series of lineage commitment stages from lymphoid progenitor cells that, in turn, are derived from hematopoietic stem cells. The cell-fate decisions required to form mature B, T and natural killer (NK) cells remains poorly understood, especially for humans. The ability of human embryonic stem (ES) cells to differentiate into lymphocytes provides a novel model system to better define this process. Also, as lymphocytes have important clinical applications for the treatment of malignancies and infectious diseases, human ES cell-derived lymphocytes offer a new resource for novel cell-based therapies. In this protocol we describe how to generate NK cells from human ES cells in vitro, as an example of human ES cell-derived lymphocyte development.