OBJECTIVE This research was to induce dendritic cells (DCs)from mice embryonic stem cells and bone marrow mononuclear cells in vitro, and then compare the biologic characteristics of them.METHODS Embryonic stem cells (ESCs) suspending cultured in petri dishes were induced to generate embryonic bodies (EBs).Fourteen-day well-developed EBs were transferred to histological culture with the same medium and supplemented 25 ng/ml GM-CSF and 25 ng/ml IL-3. In the next 2 weeks, there were numerous immature DCs outgrown. Meantime, mononuclear cells isolated from mice bone marrow were induced to derive dendritic cells by supplementing 25 ng/ml GM-CSF and 25 ng/ml IL-4, and then the morphology, phenotype and function of both dendritic cells from different origins were examined.RESULTS Growing mature through exposure to lipopolysaccharide (LPS), both ESC-DCs and BM-DCs exhibited dramatic veils of cytoplasm and extensive dendrites on their surfaces, highly expressed CD11c, MHC-Ⅱ and CD86 with strong capacity to stimulate primary T cell responses in mixed leukocyte reaction (MLR).CONCLUSION ESC-DC has the same biologic characteristics as BM-DC, and it provides a new, reliable source for the functional research of DC and next produce corresponding anti-tumor vaccine.