Live imaging endogenous transcription factor dynamics reveals mechanisms of epiblast and primitive endoderm fate segregation.

ABSTRACT: The segregation of the epiblast (EPI) and primitive endoderm (PE) cell types in the preimplantation mouse embryo is not only a crucial decision that sets aside the precursors of the embryo proper from extraembryonic cells, respectively, but also has served as a central model to study a key concept in mammalian development: how much of developmental patterning is predetermined vs. stochastically emergent. Here, we address this question by quantitative live imaging of multiple endogenously tagged transcription factors key to this fate decision and trace their dynamics at a single-cell resolution through the formation of EPI and PE cell fates. Strikingly, we reveal an initial symmetry breaking event, the formation of a primary EPI cell lineage, and show that this is linked to the dynamics of

SUBMITTER: Kim-Yip RP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12406577 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature