Microarray expression data from mouse embryonic stem cells differentiated into Nkx2-1+ lung and thyroid progenitors

The in vitro directed differentiation of pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) through stimulation of developmental signaling pathways can generate mature somatic cell types for basic laboratory studies or regenerative therapies. We used microarrays to detail the global transcriptomes of mouse embryonic stem cells differentiated in vitro into putative thyroid vs lung epithelial lineages using serum-free media supplemented with either BMP4+FGF2 (thyroid media) or BMP4+Wnt3a (lung media.) Differentiated cells carried an Nkx2-1mCherry knock-in reporter to allow sorting of mCherry + vs - cells in each condition on day 14 of differentiation for global transcriptomic profiling. Mouse embryonic stem cells (carrying an mCherry reporter targeted to the Nkx2-1 3'UTR) were differentiated in serum-free conditions: the cells were first differentiated as embryoid bodies in suspension culture into definitive endoderm with Activin A, followed by differentiation into anterior foregut endoderm by day 6, and then each sample in monolayered 2D culture on gelatin-coated plates was treated on days 6-14 with the growth factor supplements to be tested for each condition (BMP4+FGF2 for thyroid induction media; and BMP4+Wnt3a for lung induction media.)