Stem-cell-based embryo models for fundamental research and translation

J Fu, A Warmflash, MP Lutolf - Nature materials, 2021 - nature.com
Despite its importance, understanding the early phases of human development has been
limited by availability of human samples. The recent emergence of stem-cell-derived embryo …

Mechanical regulation of early vertebrate embryogenesis

M Valet, ED Siggia, AH Brivanlou - Nature Reviews Molecular Cell …, 2022 - nature.com
Embryonic cells grow in environments that provide a plethora of physical cues, including
mechanical forces that shape the development of the entire embryo. Despite their …

Self-patterning of human stem cells into post-implantation lineages

M Pedroza, SI Gassaloglu, N Dias, L Zhong, TCJ Hou… - Nature, 2023 - nature.com
Investigating human development is a substantial scientific challenge due to the technical
and ethical limitations of working with embryonic samples. In the face of these difficulties …

Mechanical tension promotes formation of gastrulation-like nodes and patterns mesoderm specification in human embryonic stem cells

JM Muncie, NME Ayad, JN Lakins, X Xue, J Fu… - Developmental cell, 2020 - cell.com
Embryogenesis is directed by morphogens that induce differentiation within a defined tissue
geometry. Tissue organization is mediated by cell-cell and cell-extracellular matrix (ECM) …

A 3D model of a human epiblast reveals BMP4-driven symmetry breaking

M Simunovic, JJ Metzger, F Etoc, A Yoney, A Ruzo… - Nature cell …, 2019 - nature.com
Breaking the anterior–posterior symmetry in mammals occurs at gastrulation. Much of the
signalling network underlying this process has been elucidated in the mouse; however …

Mechanisms of human embryo development: from cell fate to tissue shape and back

MN Shahbazi - Development, 2020 - journals.biologists.com
Gene regulatory networks and tissue morphogenetic events drive the emergence of shape
and function: the pillars of embryo development. Although model systems offer a window …

Self-organization of stem cells into embryos: a window on early mammalian development

MN Shahbazi, ED Siggia, M Zernicka-Goetz - Science, 2019 - science.org
Embryonic development is orchestrated by robust and complex regulatory mechanisms
acting at different scales of organization. In vivo studies are particularly challenging for …

Dissecting the dynamics of signaling events in the BMP, WNT, and NODAL cascade during self-organized fate patterning in human gastruloids

S Chhabra, L Liu, R Goh, X Kong, A Warmflash - PLoS biology, 2019 - journals.plos.org
During gastrulation, the pluripotent epiblast self-organizes into the 3 germ layers—
endoderm, mesoderm and ectoderm, which eventually form the entire embryo. Decades of …

[HTML][HTML] Human gastrulation: The embryo and its models

S Ghimire, V Mantziou, N Moris, AM Arias - Developmental biology, 2021 - Elsevier
Technical and ethical limitations create a challenge to study early human development,
especially following the first 3 weeks of development after fertilization, when the fundamental …

Human embryogenesis: a comparative perspective

C Gerri, S Menchero, SK Mahadevaiah… - Annual review of cell …, 2020 - annualreviews.org
Understanding human embryology has historically relied on comparative approaches using
mammalian model organisms. With the advent of low-input methods to investigate genetic …