Human Embryo at 8-Cell Stage Modeled in New Stem Cell Culture
In a new study, scientists at the Babraham Institute in U.K., have discovered a unique human cell state in culture that they call 8-cell-like cells (8CLCs), which transcriptionally resemble the 8-cell human embryo and can therefore be used as a model system to study ZGA and better understand errors at this pivotal stage that result in developmental disorders or embryonic death.
These findings were published on February 24, 2022, in an article in the journal Cell Stem Cell titled “8C-like cells capture the human zygotic genome activation program in vitro.” As 8CLCs express genes, integrated viruses, and proteins like 8-cell human embryos, they can be used to systematically study mechanisms of human embryonic genome activation in an accessible and noninvasive stem cell culture model.
“We have discovered a unique cell state that enables the molecular characterization of ZGA-like transcription in vitro. The appearance, maintenance, and enrichment of 8CLCs will allow the study of genome activation in culture and make it amenable to genetic and pharmacological manipulation in a high-throughput way,” the authors note.
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