美国德克萨斯大学西南医学中心吴军和索尔克生物研究所Juan Carlos Izpisua Belmonte研究团队合作，从小鼠胚胎或成年细胞诱导产生了囊胚样结构。 该项研究成果发表在2019年10月17日出版的《细胞》杂志上。
从单一的干细胞类型出发，到潜能扩展多能干细胞（EPS），研究人员建立了3D分化系统，该系统能够通过谱系分离和自组织的方式生成囊胚样结构（EPS- blastoids）。 EPS- blastoids在形态和细胞类型划分方面都类似于囊胚，并且在体外模拟了胚胎着床前和着床后早期发育过程中关键的形态发生事件。转移后，一些EPS囊胚进行了着床，引起子宫内膜蜕膜化，并在子宫内产生了尽管杂乱但有生命的组织。
单细胞RNA测序分析显示EPS囊胚包含所有三个囊胚细胞类型，且它们的转录水平与正常的囊胚很类似。研究提供的证据表明可以通过细胞重编程从成年细胞中产生EPS囊胚。 EPS囊胚为研究早期胚胎发生提供了独特的平台，并为通过使用培养的细胞创造可行的合成胚胎铺平了道路。
据了解，从胚胎到8细胞阶段的单个小鼠卵裂球可以产生整个囊胚。实验室培养的细胞是否保留相似的细胞全能性仍然未知。
附：英文原文
Title: Generation of Blastocyst-like Structures from Mouse Embryonic and Adult Cell Cultures
Author: Ronghui Li, Cuiqing Zhong, Yang Yu, Haisong Liu, Masahiro Sakurai, Leqian Yu, Zheying Min, Lei Shi, Yulei Wei, Yuta Takahashi, Hsin-Kai Liao, Jie Qiao, Hongkui Deng, Estrella Nuez-Delicado, Concepcion Rodriguez Esteban, Jun Wu, Juan Carlos Izpisua Belmonte
Issue&Volume: 2019/10/17
Abstract:
A single mouse blastomere from an embryo until the 8-cell stage can generate an entire blastocyst. Whether laboratory-cultured cells retain a similar generative capacity remains unknown. Starting from a single stem cell type, extended pluripotent stem (EPS) cells, we established a 3D differentiation system that enabled the generation of blastocyst-like structures (EPS-blastoids) through lineage segregation and self-organization. EPS-blastoids resembled blastocysts in morphology and cell-lineage allocation and recapitulated key morphogenetic events during preimplantation and early postimplantation development in vitro. Upon transfer, some EPS-blastoids underwent implantation, induced decidualization, and generated live, albeit disorganized, tissues in utero. Single-cell and bulk RNA-sequencing analysis revealed that EPS-blastoids contained all three blastocyst cell lineages and shared transcriptional similarity with natural blastocysts. We also provide proof of concept that EPS-blastoids can be generated from adult cells via cellular reprogramming. EPS-blastoids provide a unique platform for studying early embryogenesis and pave the way to creating viable synthetic embryos by using cultured cells.
DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2019.09.029
Source: https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(19)31080-3