SYNOPSIS
The teratogenicity of thalidomide was demonstrated by a modified Embryonic Stem Cell (EST) method using a hybrid culture with human hepatocytes. Six kinds of primary cells derived from the mouse uterus or oviduct were used as feeder layers. As a result, the beating rate due to EL-M3 cell differentiation was slightly lower for some feeder layers after the addition of thalidomide. However, there was no significant difference due to the addition of thalidomide. This may be explained by the presence of atypical cells in the feeder cells. The results will be further ana-lyzed.
Key words: human hepatocytes, uterus cells, oviduct cells, EL M3 cells, feeder cells, MEF