Academic literature on the topic 'Extra-embryonic endoderm'

Blastocysts in the Hill Collection from Trichosurus vulpecula, Pefrogale penicillata, Macropus ruficollis (= M. rufogriseus), Macropus parma, Onychogalea fraenata, Bettongia gaimardi, Perameles obesula (=lsoodon obesulus), Perameles nasuta, Dasyurus viverrinus, Didelphis aurita (=D. marsupialis) and Didelphis virginiana were examined. They ranged from incomplete unilaminar blastocysts to late bilaminar blastocysts. The mode of formation of the unilaminar blastocyst appeared to be influenced by the presence or absence of the yolk mass. A unilaminar blastocyst lined by uniform protoderm cells occurred in a wide variety of marsupials. Differentiation of the unilaminar blastocyst into embryonic and extra-embryonic areas occurred at different stages of development. In macropodids and Didelphis it was found in small blastocysts soon after blastocyst completion. In dasyurids, Perameles and some other groups it was found in larger blastocysts, at least four cell generations after blastocyst completion. The first histological signs of differentiation of the unilaminar blastocyst into embryonic and extra-embryonic areas varied between different marsupials. In Didelphis, enlarged endoderm mother cells developed from the protoderm cells of one hemisphere. The protoderm cells of this hemisphere later differentiated as embryonic ectoderm and the endoderm mother cells gave rise to the primary endoderm. In D. viverrinus, bandicoots and T. vulpecula, the protoderm cells of one hemisphere differentiated simultaneously into cuboidal embryonic ectoderm and endoderm mother cells. In P. penicillata, M. ruficollis and M. parma the protoderm cells of one hemisphere proliferated to form a multilayered embryonic area which later differentiated into embryonic ectoderm and primary endoderm.

The mammalian blastocyst is the source of the most pluripotent stem cells known: embryonic stem (ES) cells. However, ES cells are not totipotent; in mouse chimeras, they do not contribute to extra-embryonic cell types of the trophectoderm (TE) and primitive endoderm (PrE) lineages. Understanding the genetic pathways that control pluripotency v. extra-embryonic lineage restriction is key to understanding not only normal embryonic development, but also how to reprogramme adult cells to pluripotency. The trophectoderm and primitive endoderm lineages also provide the first signals that drive patterned differentiation of the pluripotent epiblast cells of the embryo. My laboratory has produced permanent mouse cell lines from both the TE and the PrE, termed trophoblast stem (TS) and eXtra-embryonic ENdoderm (XEN) cells. We have used these cells to explore the genetic and molecular hierarchy of lineage restriction and identify the key factors that distinguish the ES cell v. the TS or XEN cell fate. The major molecular pathways of lineage commitment defined in mouse embryos and stem cells are probably conserved across mammalian species, but more comparative studies of lineage development in embryos of non-rodent mammals will likely yield interesting differences in terms of timing and details.

Both the extracellular matrix and parathyroid hormone-related peptide (PTHrP) have been implicated in the differentiation and migration of extra-embryonic endodermal cells in the pre-implantation mammalian blastocyst. In order to define the individual roles and interactions between these factors in endodermal differentiation, we have used embryoid bodies derived from Lamc1(-/-) embryonic stem cells that lack basement membranes. The results show that in the absence of basement membranes, increased numbers of both visceral and parietal endodermal cells differentiate, but they fail to form organised epithelia. Furthermore, although parietal endodermal cells only migrate away from control embryoid bodies in the presence of PTHrP, they readily migrate from Lamc1(-/-) embryoid bodies in the absence of PTHrP, and this migration is unaffected by PTHrP. Thus, the basement membrane between epiblast and extra-embryonic endoderm is required for the proper organisation of visceral and parietal endodermal cells and also restricts their differentiation to maintain the population of primitive endodermal stem cells. Moreover, this basement membrane inhibits migration of parietal endodermal cells, the role of PTHrP being to stimulate delamination of parietal endodermal cells from the basement membrane rather than promoting migration per se.

All major embryonic and extra-embryonic cell lineages are established before implantation in marsupials. In reptiles, birds, monotremes and most marsupials, the zygote is polarized, sometimes markedly so, and the cleavage pattern in relation to the polarized state provides the mechanism for the generation of positional signals. These ensure that the embryonic cell lineages develop in the centre of the developing blastoderm or blastocyst epithelium and the extra-embryonic lineages at the periphery. The evolution of the vertebrate yolky egg was accompanied by a decreasing dependence on maternal determinants and increasing dependence on positional signals to determine cell fate. It is proposed that when a less yolky egg evolved, the mechanisms for determination of cell fate in a developing epithelium were retained. It is proposed that in marsupials, positional signals are involved in the determination of cell fate of embryonic and trophectoderm cells but do so in a two-dimensional epithelium not a three-dimensional morula. The next lineage formed is the primary endoderm which separates off from the primitive ectoderm in the embryoblast and eventually lines the blastocyst cavity. Positional signals are responsible for the determination of primary endoderm in eutherian mammals, birds and probably also marsupials. Order of cell division during cleavage provides a mechanism whereby some cells in the embryoblast of marsupials have earlier and greater contact with their neighbouring cells. The mechanism for determination of primary endoderm cells in the blastocyst epithelium is examined in the Virginia opossum and the stripe-faced dunnart.

SummaryDiploid mouse conceptuses lacking a paternal genome can form morphologically normal but small fetuses of up to 25 somites, but they invariably fail to develop beyond mid-gestation. Such conceptuses differ from normal most notably in the poor development of extra-embryonic tissues which are largely of trophectodermal and primitive endodermal origin. However, it is not clear whether the demise of diploid parthenogenetic (P) or gynogenetic (G) conceptuses is attributable entirely to the defective development of these two tissues or whether differentiation of the primitive ectoderm, the precursor of the foetus, extra-embryonic mesoderm and amnion, is also impaired by the absence of a paternal genome. Therefore, a new blastocyst reconstitution technique was used which enabled primitive ectoderm from P blastocysts to be combined with primitive endoderm and trophectoderm from fertilization-derived (F) blastocysts. One third of the ‘triple tissue’ reconstituted blastocysts that implanted yielded foetuses. However, all foetuses recovered on the llth or 12th day of gestation were small and, with one exception, either obviously retarded or arrested in development. The exception was a living 44 somite specimen which is the most advanced P foetus yet recorded. Foetuses were invariably degenerating in conceptuses recovered on the 13th day. In contrast, at least 16% of control reconstituted blastocysts with primitive ectoderm as well as primitive endoderm and trophectoderm of F origin developed normally on the 13th day of gestation or to term. Hence, the presence of a paternal genome seems to be essential for normal differentiation of all 3 primary tissues of the mouse blastocyst.The P foetuses that developed from reconstituted blastocysts were so closely invested by their membranes that they often showed abnormal flexure of the posterior region of the body. Several also showed a deficiency of allantoic tissue. Therefore, the possibility that the defect in development of P primitive ectoderms resided in their extra-embryonic tissues was investigated by analysing a series of chimaeras produced by injecting them into intact F blastocysts. The foregoing anomalies were not discernible even when P cells made a large contribution to the extra-embryonic mesoderm or amnion plus umbilical cord. Furthermore, selection against P cells was no greater in extra-embryonic derivatives of the primitive ectoderm than in the foetus itself.

In mammalian development, endoderm formation occurs in two phases and the fate of these populations is different. In the blastocyst, inner cell mass (ICM) cells generate the primitive endoderm (PrE), which will give rise to the extra-embryonic parietal (PE) and visceral endoderm (VE). Hematopoietically expressed homeobox (Hhex) protein is initially expressed throughout the PrE and subsequently becomes restricted to the anterior visceral endoderm (AVE), one of two important early embryonic signalling centres in the mouse. During gastrulation a second wave of endoderm differentiation occurs, the definitive endoderm (DE), generating the foregut. Immediately following the induction of DE, regional identity is initially established in the anterior region with the expression of Hhex. One of the earliest specification events in this lineage is the specification of anterior fate by Hhex, this time in a second signalling centre, the anterior definitive endoderm (ADE). The ADE is both important for embryonic patterning, and as the precursor population for differentiating to the foregut and its derivatives the thyroid, liver and pancreas. The literature surrounding these early embryonic patterning events is covered in depth in chapter 1. Embryonic stem cells (ESCs) are normal cell lines derived from the mammalian blastocyst at the time that it is making PrE. A number of laboratories have generated protocols to make endoderm from ESCs and in my thesis I define approaches to distinguish between PrE and DE. I generated a new ESC reporter line utilising a gene normally expressed in both the PrE and later in hepatic endoderm; this reporter contains a GFP in the first exon of the Hnf4α locus. This was combined with a second fluorescent reporter containing DSRed in the Hhex locus. This cell line is described and characterised in chapter 3. As Hnf4α is initially expressed in PrE prior to Hhex, but in the DE following Hhex, I was able to use the temporal expression of this reporter to distinguish the induction of PrE from DE. As Activin and Wnt are known to induce endoderm from ESCs, I was then able to ask what sort of endoderm the combination of these two signals induced. In chapter 4 I found that normal ESCs would readily differentiate to iPrE in the presence of Activin and Wnt3a. While this has not been described previously, my analysis suggests that ESC protocols applying these cytokines directly to ESCs have produced PrE. Given that ESCs are derived from the blastocyst, the generation of iPrE from Wnt3a/Activin treatment fits with developmental paradigms. However, Act/Wnt3a is used routinely on Human ESCs (hESCs) and so I attempted to reconcile these observations. HESCs, while derived from the blastocyst, appear to progress developmentally in vitro, to a stage closer to the epiblast, immediately prior to gastrulation. I therefore assessed the effect of Activin and Wnt3a on mouse stem cell lines derived from the epiblast (Epiblast Stem Cells, EpiSCs), that are grown under similar conditions to hESCs. When Wnt3a/Act is applied to these cells I found that they made DE rather than PrE, which I describe in chapter 4. Taken together my observations suggest that Act/Wnt3a are general endoderm inducers that induce context specific differentiation in vitro. The cell type derived in response to this treatment depends on the developmental stage of the starting stem cell culture. During the course of this work, I also observed that PrE was growing under Activin/Wnt3a treatment. As a number of cell culture systems have been established that reflect PE, but not truly bipotent PrE, I investigated the conditions under which PrE can be expanded. In chapter 5 I characterize a new PrE culture system, in which bipotent extra-embryonic endoderm can be expanded indefinitely in culture. I also explore a bit more precisely the nature of the starting cells that initially become exposed to Activin/Wnt3a treatment. Previous work has extensively characterized the existence of a primed population of PrE in ESC culture and in chapter 6 I explore the existence of a primed DE population in EpiSC culture. Taken together, my thesis is the first demonstration that Activin/Wnt3a can induce different endoderm populations in different embryonic stem cell populations. It underlies the notion that the evolutionary origin of both cell types is the same and that the pathways evolved for extra-embryonic development in mammals just exploit the ancient modes of germ layer specification that evolved with gastrulation.

Präzise regulierte Genexpression, ist der Schlüssel zu erfolgreicher Embryonal-entwicklung. Die Expression von Zelltyp-spezifischen Transkriptionsfaktoren kann durch räumliche Interaktionen von Promotoren und Enhancern im Nukleus kontrolliert werden, aber auch durch 3D Faltung der DNA in größere organisatorische Einheiten wie “Topologically Associating Domains” (TADs) oder “A/B compartments”. Um die 3D Faltung in den Zelltypen des prä-implantations Embryos zu untersuchen, nutze ich ES und XEN Zellen, die stark dem Epiblast und dem primitiven Endoderm in der inneren Zellmasse des E4.5 Embryos ähneln. Um den Zusammenhang zwischen 3D DNA Faltung und zellulärer Identität zu erforschen, habe ich GAM, ATAC-seq und RNA-seq Daten von ES und XEN Zellen produziert. Um die Genom-Architektur im Embryo zu untersuchen, habe ich außerdem die GAM Methode an den Mausembryo angepasst und kann dadurch erstmals genomweit DNA-Faltung in den spezifischen Zelltypen der inneren Zellmasse des prä-implantations Embryos zeigen. ES und XEN Zellen zeigen viele differentiell exprimierte Gene, sowie starke Veränderungen in der Chromatin-Organisation, beispielweise in der Bildung von reprimierten Chromatinnetzwerken in ESCs, die wichtige XEN Gene wie Gata6 und Lama1 enthalten, während diese nicht aktiv sind. XEN-spezifische Genexpression ist oft mit der Präsenz von XEN-spezifischen “TAD boundaries” gekoppelt. Der Sox2 Locus zeigt eine ESC-spezifische Organisation mit aktiven Genen, und Regionen die von den Transkriptionsfaktoren SOX2, NANOG und OCT4 gebunden sind. Die starke Reorganisation der Genom-Architektur in wichtigen Loci wie Gata6 und Sox2 konnte ich mit in vivo GAM Daten bestätigen und finde ähnliche Unterschiede zwischen den beiden Zelltypen der inneren Zellmasse wie im in vitro Model. Diese Ergebnisse zeigen, wie wichtig es ist, Zelltypen getrennt zu untersuchen und, dass eine Verbindung zwischen zellulärer Identität und der Faltung des Genoms in der Embryonalentwicklung besteht.
Tightly controlled gene regulation is key to functional metazoan embryonic development. The expression of cell-fate determining transcription factors orchestrates the establishment of the various lineages of the embryo. Gene expression is often regulated via specific chromatin organisation. To investigate cell type-specific differences in chromatin folding in early embryonic development, I used in vitro models of the two distinct cell populations in the blastocyst ICM. In mouse ES and XEN cells, I mapped 3D genome conformation using Genome Architecture Mapping (GAM), chromatin accessibility using ATAC-seq, and gene expression using total RNA-seq. To enable the mapping of 3D genome folding directly in the blastocyst ICM, I adapted GAM for cell type-specific selection of nuclei, by integrating immunofluorescence detection of markers, and generated the first genome-wide chromatin contact maps that distinguish ICM cell types. I report that the ES and XEN cell lineages undergo abundant large scale rearrangements of genome architecture and exhibit high numbers of differentially expressed genes. For example, extra-embryonic endoderm genes, such as Lama1 and Gata6, form silent hubs in ESCs, potentially connecting maintenance of pluripotency to 3D structure of the genome. Further, I show that the expression of XEN cell-specific genes relates to the formation of XEN cell-specific TAD boundaries. Chromatin contacts at the Sox2 locus exhibit an ESC-specific organisation around binding of pluripotency transcription factors OCT4, NANOG and SOX2, into hubs of high gene activity. The observations detected in in vitro models, were investigated in smaller GAM datasets produced using the in vivo counterparts in the ICM. Overall, in vivo data confirmed the high degree of chromatin rearrangement among the two cell types, specifically in loci of lineage driving genes. The findings from in vivo data further underscore the connection of genome topology and cellular identity.