Efficient differentiation of human primordial germ cells through geometric control reveals a key role for Nodal signaling
Human primordial germ cells (hPGCs) form around the time of implantation and are the precursors of eggs and sperm. Many aspects of hPGC specification remain poorly understood because of the inaccessibility of the early postimplantation human embryo for study. Here, we show that micropatterned human...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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eLife Sciences Publications Ltd
2022-04-01
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| Series: | eLife |
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| Online Access: | https://elifesciences.org/articles/72811 |
| _version_ | 1797998503254818816 |
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| author | Kyoung Jo Seth Teague Bohan Chen Hina Aftab Khan Emily Freeburne Hunter Li Bolin Li Ran Ran Jason R Spence Idse Heemskerk |
| author_facet | Kyoung Jo Seth Teague Bohan Chen Hina Aftab Khan Emily Freeburne Hunter Li Bolin Li Ran Ran Jason R Spence Idse Heemskerk |
| author_sort | Kyoung Jo |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Human primordial germ cells (hPGCs) form around the time of implantation and are the precursors of eggs and sperm. Many aspects of hPGC specification remain poorly understood because of the inaccessibility of the early postimplantation human embryo for study. Here, we show that micropatterned human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) treated with BMP4 give rise to hPGC-like cells (hPGCLC) and use these as a quantitatively reproducible and simple in vitro model to interrogate this important developmental event. We characterize micropatterned hPSCs up to 96 hr and show that hPGCLC populations are stable and continue to mature. By perturbing signaling during hPGCLC differentiation, we identify a previously unappreciated role for Nodal signaling and find that the relative timing and duration of BMP and Nodal signaling are critical parameters controlling the number of hPGCLCs. We formulate a mathematical model for a network of cross-repressive fates driven by Nodal and BMP signaling, which predicts the measured fate patterns after signaling perturbations. Finally, we show that hPSC colony size dictates the efficiency of hPGCLC specification, which led us to dramatically improve the efficiency of hPGCLC differentiation. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T10:49:50Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-6961dbdbea1343d2b3010d3a6b3fc42a |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2050-084X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T10:49:50Z |
| publishDate | 2022-04-01 |
| publisher | eLife Sciences Publications Ltd |
| record_format | Article |
| series | eLife |
| spelling | doaj.art-6961dbdbea1343d2b3010d3a6b3fc42a2022-12-22T04:28:57ZengeLife Sciences Publications LtdeLife2050-084X2022-04-011110.7554/eLife.72811Efficient differentiation of human primordial germ cells through geometric control reveals a key role for Nodal signalingKyoung Jo0Seth Teague1Bohan Chen2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9781-2982Hina Aftab Khan3Emily Freeburne4https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0344-577XHunter Li5Bolin Li6Ran Ran7Jason R Spence8https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7869-3992Idse Heemskerk9https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8861-7712Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, United StatesDepartment of Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, United StatesDepartment of Cell and Developmental Biology, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, United StatesDepartment of Cell and Developmental Biology, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, United StatesDepartment of Cell and Developmental Biology, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, United StatesDepartment of Cell and Developmental Biology, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, United StatesDepartment of Cell and Developmental Biology, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, United StatesDepartment of Cell and Developmental Biology, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, United StatesDepartment of Cell and Developmental Biology, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, United States; Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, United States; Center for Organogenesis, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, United States; Department of Internal Medicine, Gastroenterology, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, United StatesDepartment of Cell and Developmental Biology, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, United States; Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, United States; Center for Organogenesis, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, United States; Department of Physics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, United StatesHuman primordial germ cells (hPGCs) form around the time of implantation and are the precursors of eggs and sperm. Many aspects of hPGC specification remain poorly understood because of the inaccessibility of the early postimplantation human embryo for study. Here, we show that micropatterned human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) treated with BMP4 give rise to hPGC-like cells (hPGCLC) and use these as a quantitatively reproducible and simple in vitro model to interrogate this important developmental event. We characterize micropatterned hPSCs up to 96 hr and show that hPGCLC populations are stable and continue to mature. By perturbing signaling during hPGCLC differentiation, we identify a previously unappreciated role for Nodal signaling and find that the relative timing and duration of BMP and Nodal signaling are critical parameters controlling the number of hPGCLCs. We formulate a mathematical model for a network of cross-repressive fates driven by Nodal and BMP signaling, which predicts the measured fate patterns after signaling perturbations. Finally, we show that hPSC colony size dictates the efficiency of hPGCLC specification, which led us to dramatically improve the efficiency of hPGCLC differentiation.https://elifesciences.org/articles/72811human pluripotent stem cellscell fate patterningprimordial germ cellscell signalingmicropatterning |
| spellingShingle | Kyoung Jo Seth Teague Bohan Chen Hina Aftab Khan Emily Freeburne Hunter Li Bolin Li Ran Ran Jason R Spence Idse Heemskerk Efficient differentiation of human primordial germ cells through geometric control reveals a key role for Nodal signaling eLife human pluripotent stem cells cell fate patterning primordial germ cells cell signaling micropatterning |
| title | Efficient differentiation of human primordial germ cells through geometric control reveals a key role for Nodal signaling |
| title_full | Efficient differentiation of human primordial germ cells through geometric control reveals a key role for Nodal signaling |
| title_fullStr | Efficient differentiation of human primordial germ cells through geometric control reveals a key role for Nodal signaling |
| title_full_unstemmed | Efficient differentiation of human primordial germ cells through geometric control reveals a key role for Nodal signaling |
| title_short | Efficient differentiation of human primordial germ cells through geometric control reveals a key role for Nodal signaling |
| title_sort | efficient differentiation of human primordial germ cells through geometric control reveals a key role for nodal signaling |
| topic | human pluripotent stem cells cell fate patterning primordial germ cells cell signaling micropatterning |
| url | https://elifesciences.org/articles/72811 |
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