Expanded potential: the key to synthetic embryo?

Expanded potential: the key to synthetic embryo? Curr Opin Genet Dev. 2020 Jul 09;64:72-77 Authors: Yang J, Fu H, Tam C, Liu P Abstract How does an embryo acquire totipotency and develop into an adult is a fundamental scientific question. Stem cells derived from pre-implantation embryos or reprogrammed from somatic cells with totipotency features have been established. They have enriched molecular features, including transcription, epigenetic modification, chromatin structure and metabolism, similar to early embryos from 2 cell (2C) to morula. Functionally, they display a broader developmental potential to differentiate into cell types in the embryonic and extraembryonic tissues. The expanded developmental potential was further demonstrated by inducing these stem cells into embryo-like structures alone or aggregating with other embryo-derived stem cells. The synthetic embryo-like structures not only facilitate the dissection of key events in early embryonic development, but also serve as a model for investigating pregnancy related complications. PMID: 32653814 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Source: Current Opinion in Genetics and Development - Category: Genetics & Stem Cells Authors: Tags: Curr Opin Genet Dev Source Type: research