In preprints: opportunities to unravel the earliest stages of human development using stem cell-based embryo models

Moris, Naomi; Sturmey, Roger

Abstract

Several exciting advances have enabled the derivation of stem cell-based embryo-like models (SCBEMs). Such models allow us to interrogate previously intractable questions in developmental biology and ask hypothesis-driven fundamental questions such as how the body plan forms, how tissue types interact and how transcriptomic, proteomic and metabolic states influence early human development. SCBEMs provide researchers with scalable, accessible and experimentally tractable systems when access to human embryos is limited or insufficient. SCBEM is an umbrella term, describing a diverse range of models produced through different protocols from self-organised stem cells. Crucially, none of the current models are ‘equivalent’ to human embryos; different SCBEM models represent specific aspects of development and to varying degrees. For example, SCBEMs may represent some, but not all, of the components of the early conceptus, whereas others model specific stages of development. Other SCBEMs might have the right cell types but in a disorganised, disproportionate or morphologically dysplastic state. Like any ‘toolbox’, human SCBEMs are powerful precisely because they represent a variety of ‘tools’ to ask a range of questions.

Citation

Moris, N., & Sturmey, R. (2023). In preprints: opportunities to unravel the earliest stages of human development using stem cell-based embryo models. Development, 150(17), Article dev202295. https://doi.org/10.1242/dev.202295

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Aug 23, 2023
• Online Publication Date: Sep 13, 2023
• Publication Date: Sep 1, 2023
• Deposit Date: Sep 22, 2023
• Publicly Available Date: Sep 2, 2024
• Journal: Development (Cambridge, England)
• Print ISSN: 0950-1991
• Electronic ISSN: 1477-9129
• Publisher: The Company of Biologists
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 150
• Issue: 17
• Article Number: dev202295
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1242/dev.202295
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/4395221