RA drives a NELFA-mediated (negative elongation factor A) 2C-like cells in mouse ESCs

A small population of ESCs sporadically resembled into 2-cell stage embryos features in serum and leukemia inhibitory factor containing culture condition. However, whether 2-cell-like (2C-like) cells induced in the chemically defined media remains largely unknown. Here, we report a robust in vitro induction system based on retinoic acid (RA) contained chemically defined media without any genetic manipulation and serum which can efficiently increases 2C-like cells in ESCs.