Three-dimensional clusters of cells that mimic certain aspects of embryo’s development may help researchers to understand how complex patterns emerge from a homogeneous population of cells. Image credit: Simon Suppinger.
Three-dimensional clusters of cells that mimic certain aspects of embryo's development may help researchers to understand how complex patterns emerge from a homogeneous population of cells. Image credit: Simon Suppinger. An organism's body plan arises through a process called gastrulation, during which the embryo forms three distinct layers of cells that will later give rise to all organs. Now, FMI researchers have mapped the development of three-dimensional clusters of cells that mimic aspects of gastrulation, providing important insights into the molecular mechanisms that regulate early embryonic development and cell fate determination. Scientists have succeeded in developing methods that use mouse embryonic stem cells to generate three-dimensional clusters of cells, called gastruloids, that recapitulate certain aspects of gastrulation in a lab dish. But little is known about the exact events that lead gastruloids to differentiate into specialized cell types and organize in a manner that resembles the early mouse body plan. Using single-cell RNA sequencing and advanced imaging methods, researchers in Prisca Liberali 's group mapped key developmental events in tens of thousands of gastruloids.
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