Similar Datasets
Project description:Cellular differentiation requires the proper interpretation of multiple signalling cues which vary in concentration. How exactly the combination and history of signals a cell is exposed to influences a fate decision remains poorly understood. In this study we use hESCs as a tractable model system to explore how combinations of cues guide state transitions during gastrulation. Using single-cell transcriptomics and live-cell imaging of engineered hESCs expressing endogenous cell state reporters, we reconstructed developmental lineages and obtained single-cell measurements of fate specification dynamics during gastrulation. We found that definitive endoderm, one of the three germ layers, arises from two distinct developmental trajectories: a direct route from pluripotency, and an indirect route via a mesoderm progenitor state. Furthermore, by modulating the signalling input we found that the relative concentration of Activin and BMP4 controls the choice between alternate trajectories to endoderm. These findings reveal a lineage convergence event during human gastrulation with multiple routes existing to definitive endoderm dictated by the combination of signalling cues presented. This work shows that the combination cues a cell is exposed to not only directs the final fate outcome it assumes, but the developmental route taken.
2025-10-01 | GSE296029 | GEO
Project description:Cellular differentiation requires the proper interpretation of multiple signalling cues which vary in concentration. How exactly the combination and history of signals a cell is exposed to influences a fate decision remains poorly understood. In this study we use hESCs as a tractable model system to explore how combinations of cues guide state transitions during gastrulation. Using single-cell transcriptomics and live-cell imaging of engineered hESCs expressing endogenous cell state reporters, we reconstructed developmental lineages and obtained single-cell measurements of fate specification dynamics during gastrulation. We found that definitive endoderm, one of the three germ layers, arises from two distinct developmental trajectories: a direct route from pluripotency, and an indirect route via a mesoderm progenitor state. Furthermore, by modulating the signalling input we found that the relative concentration of Activin and BMP4 controls the choice between alternate trajectories to endoderm. These findings reveal a lineage convergence event during human gastrulation with multiple routes existing to definitive endoderm dictated by the combination of signalling cues presented. This work shows that the combination cues a cell is exposed to not only directs the final fate outcome it assumes, but the developmental route taken.
2025-10-01 | GSE274676 | GEO
Project description:Cellular differentiation requires the proper interpretation of multiple signalling cues which vary in concentration. How exactly the combination and history of signals a cell is exposed to influences a fate decision remains poorly understood. In this study we use hESCs as a tractable model system to explore how combinations of cues guide state transitions during gastrulation. Using single-cell transcriptomics and live-cell imaging of engineered hESCs expressing endogenous cell state reporters, we reconstructed developmental lineages and obtained single-cell measurements of fate specification dynamics during gastrulation. We found that definitive endoderm, one of the three germ layers, arises from two distinct developmental trajectories: a direct route from pluripotency, and an indirect route via a mesoderm progenitor state. Furthermore, by modulating the signalling input we found that the relative concentration of Activin and BMP4 controls the choice between alternate trajectories to endoderm. These findings reveal a lineage convergence event during human gastrulation with multiple routes existing to definitive endoderm dictated by the combination of signalling cues presented. This work shows that the combination cues a cell is exposed to not only directs the final fate outcome it assumes, but the developmental route taken.
2025-10-01 | GSE274677 | GEO
Project description:Combinatorial BMP4 and Activin direct choice between alternate routes to endoderm during human gastrulation.
| PRJNA1147709 | ENA
Project description:Combinatorial BMP4 and Activin direct choice between alternate routes to endoderm during human gastrulation [RN25025_RNAseq]
| PRJNA1257352 | ENA
Project description:Combinatorial BMP4 and Activin direct choice between alternate routes to endoderm during human gastrulation [scRNA-seq]
| PRJNA1147638 | ENA
Project description:Combinatorial BMP4 and Activin direct choice between alternate routes to endoderm during human gastrulation [RNA-seq]
| PRJNA1147640 | ENA
Project description:Human embryonic stem cells (HESCs) herald tremendous promise for the production of clinically useful cell types for the treatment of injury and disease. Numerous reports demonstrate their differentiation into definitive endoderm (DE) cells, the germ layer from which pancreatic β cells and hepatocytes arise, solely from exposure to a high dose of recombinant Activin/Nodal. Here, we show that combining a second related ligand, BMP4, in combination with Activin A yields 15 to 20% more DE as compared to Activin A alone. The addition of recombinant BMP4 accelerates the downregulation of pluripotency factors, particularly SOX2, and results in upregulation of endogenous BMP2 and BMP4, which in turn leads to elevated levels of phospho-SMAD1/5/8 over the next three days of differentiation. Combined Activin A and BMP4 treatment also leads to an increase in the expression of DE genes CXCR4, SOX17 and FOXA2 when compared to Activin A addition alone. Comparative microarray studies between DE cells harvested on day 3 of differentiation further reveal a novel set of genes upregulated in response to initial BMP4 exposure. Several of these, including APLNR, LRIG3, MCC and LZTS1, are expressed either in the mouse primitive streak, the site of DE formation, or in nascent DE itself. Thus, this synergism between Activin A and BMP4 during the in vitro differentiation of HESC into DE suggests a complex interplay between BMP and Activin/Nodal signaling during the in vivo allocation and expansion of the endoderm lineage.
2011-11-10 | GSE30630 | GEO
Project description:Human embryonic stem cells (HESCs) herald tremendous promise for the production of clinically useful cell types for the treatment of injury and disease. Numerous reports demonstrate their differentiation into definitive endoderm (DE) cells, the germ layer from which pancreatic β cells and hepatocytes arise, solely from exposure to a high dose of recombinant Activin/Nodal. Here, we show that combining a second related ligand, BMP4, in combination with Activin A yields 15 to 20% more DE as compared to Activin A alone. The addition of recombinant BMP4 accelerates the downregulation of pluripotency factors, particularly SOX2, and results in upregulation of endogenous BMP2 and BMP4, which in turn leads to elevated levels of phospho-SMAD1/5/8 over the next three days of differentiation. Combined Activin A and BMP4 treatment also leads to an increase in the expression of DE genes CXCR4, SOX17 and FOXA2 when compared to Activin A addition alone. Comparative microarray studies between DE cells harvested on day 3 of differentiation further reveal a novel set of genes upregulated in response to initial BMP4 exposure. Several of these, including APLNR, LRIG3, MCC and LZTS1, are expressed either in the mouse primitive streak, the site of DE formation, or in nascent DE itself. Thus, this synergism between Activin A and BMP4 during the in vitro differentiation of HESC into DE suggests a complex interplay between BMP and Activin/Nodal signaling during the in vivo allocation and expansion of the endoderm lineage. 3 biological replicates of 3-day ActivinA treated HES3 human stem cell culture were compared to 3-day ActivinA+Bmp4 treated HES3 human stem cell culture and observed for differential genes expression
2011-11-10 | E-GEOD-30630 | biostudies-arrayexpress
Project description:It is generally accepted that epiblast cells ingress into the primitive streak by epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) to give rise to the mesoderm; however, it is less clear how the endoderm acquires an epithelial fate. Here, we used embryonic stem cell and mouse embryo knock-in reporter systems to combine time-resolved lineage labelling with high-resolution single-cell transcriptomics. This allowed us to resolve the morphogenetic programs that segregate the mesoderm from the endoderm germ layer. Strikingly, while the mesoderm is formed by classical EMT, the endoderm is formed independent of the key EMT transcription factor Snail1 by mechanisms of epithelial cell plasticity. Importantly, forkhead box transcription factor A2 (Foxa2) acts as an epithelial gatekeeper and EMT suppressor to shield the endoderm from undergoing a mesenchymal transition. Altogether, these results not only establish the morphogenetic details of germ layer formation, but also have broader implications for stem cell differentiation and cancer metastasis.
| S-EPMC8277579 | biostudies-literature