Spatiotemporal mosaic self-patterning of pluripotent stem cells using CRISPR interference

We examined effects of induced mosaic knockdown of molecular regulators of cortical tension (ROCK1) and cell-cell adhesion (CDH1) with CRISPR interference. Mosaic knockdown of ROCK1 or CDH1 resulted in differential patterning within hiPSC colonies due to cellular self-organization, while retaining an epithelial pluripotent phenotype. Knockdown induction stimulates a transient wave of differential gene expression within the mixed populations that stabilized in coordination with observed self-organization. Mosaic patterning enables genetic interrogation of emergent multicellular properties, which can facilitate better understanding of the molecular pathways that regulate symmetry-breaking during morphogenesis.
Source: eLife - Category: Biomedical Science Tags: Developmental Biology Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine Source Type: research