Self-organized amniogenesis by human pluripotent stem cells in a biomimetic implantation-like niche. Nat Mater 2017 Apr;16(4):419-425
Date
12/13/2016Pubmed ID
27941807Pubmed Central ID
PMC5374007DOI
10.1038/nmat4829Scopus ID
2-s2.0-85018471615 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site) 168 CitationsAbstract
Amniogenesis-the development of amnion-is a critical developmental milestone for early human embryogenesis and successful pregnancy. However, human amniogenesis is poorly understood due to limited accessibility to peri-implantation embryos and a lack of in vitro models. Here we report an efficient biomaterial system to generate human amnion-like tissue in vitro through self-organized development of human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) in a bioengineered niche mimicking the in vivo implantation environment. We show that biophysical niche factors act as a switch to toggle hPSC self-renewal versus amniogenesis under self-renewal-permissive biochemical conditions. We identify a unique molecular signature of hPSC-derived amnion-like cells and show that endogenously activated BMP-SMAD signalling is required for the amnion-like tissue development by hPSCs. This study unveils the self-organizing and mechanosensitive nature of human amniogenesis and establishes the first hPSC-based model for investigating peri-implantation human amnion development, thereby helping advance human embryology and reproductive medicine.
Author List
Shao Y, Taniguchi K, Gurdziel K, Townshend RF, Xue X, Yong KMA, Sang J, Spence JR, Gumucio DL, Fu JAuthor
Kenichiro Taniguchi PhD Assistant Professor in the Cell Biology, Neurobiology and Anatomy department at Medical College of WisconsinMESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold
AmnionBiomimetic Materials
Cell Line
Humans
Models, Biological
Pluripotent Stem Cells
Reproductive Medicine
Stem Cell Niche
Tissue Engineering