発生学からみた再生医療

Summary 　Using a model organism,Xenopus laevis,we have identified activin as a mesoderm-inducing factor that could function as the molecular entity of the Spemann-Mangold organizer. 　As activin can induce dorsal mesoderm formation,this growth factor was subsequently used to induce organs and tissues in vitro.So far,more than 20 different types of tissues and organs have been induced from Xenopus undifferentiated cells in vitro. We then applied these findings to mouse ES cells.We will show some examples of our findings.At the end of this review,we comment on the current status and future of regenerative medicine.