ArticleNature cell biology2019
A 3D model of a human epiblast reveals BMP4-driven symmetry breaking.
Article in Nature cell biology, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 103 papers.
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Who cites it
103 citing papers in PubMed, 182 citations in OpenAlex.
- Optogenetic BMP4 models symmetry breaking and primitive streak formation in hPSCs.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Trends in neuroprosthetic technologies to restore sensations.Biomedical engineering letters · 2026Review
- Fundamental limits on symmetry breaking by Turing-like activator-inhibitor mechanisms.Development (Cambridge, England) · 2026Article
- Scalable synthetic peptide hydrogel enables self-organized luminal cavity architecture within hiPSC 3D colonies supporting functional hepatocyte differentiation.Bioactive materials · 2026Article
- Microengineered Gradient Hydrogels for Mechanobiology.Advanced healthcare materials · 2026Review
- Endocytosed lipids induce cell aggregation via filopodia retraction in a close relative of animals.EMBO reports · 2026Article
- A transgene-free, human peri-gastrulation embryo model presents trilaminar embryonic disc-, amnion- and yolk sac-like structures.Nature cell biology · 2026Article
- Optogenetic WNT signaling drives germ layer self-organization in a human gastruloid model.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- A human epiblast model reveals dynamic TGFβ-mediated control of epithelial identity during mammalian epiblast development.Nature cell biology · 2026Article
- mTORC2-mediated cell-cell interactions promote BMP4-induced WNT activation and mesoderm differentiation.Stem cell reports · 2025Article
- Stem cell-based human embryo models: current knowledge and open questions.Stem cell research & therapy · 2025Review
- Deep manifold learning reveals hidden developmental dynamics of a human embryo model.Science advances · 2025Article
- Advances in engineered models of peri-gastrulation.iScience · 2025Review
- Self-organization of mouse embryonic stem cells into reproducible pre-gastrulation embryo models via CRISPRa programming.Cell stem cell · 2025Article
- The building blocks of embryo models: embryonic and extraembryonic stem cells.Cell discovery · 2025Review
- Pluripotent cell states and fates in human embryo models.Development (Cambridge, England) · 2025Review
- zIncubascope: Long-term quantitative imaging of multi-cellular assemblies inside an incubator.PloS one · 2025Article
- Assembly of a stem cell-derived human postimplantation embryo model.Nature protocols · 2025Article
- Polarization of organoids by bioengineered symmetry breaking.IBRO neuroscience reports · 2024Article
- Recording morphogen signals reveals mechanisms underlying gastruloid symmetry breaking.Nature cell biology · 2024Article
43 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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Authors and funding
10 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Breaking the anterior-posterior symmetry in mammals occurs at gastrulation. Much of the signalling network underlying this process has been elucidated in the mouse; however, there is no direct molecular evidence of events driving axis formation in humans. Here, we use human embryonic stem cells to generate an in vitro three-dimensional model of a human epiblast whose size, cell polarity and gene expression are similar to a day 10 human epiblast. A defined dose of BMP4 spontaneously breaks axial symmetry, and induces markers of the primitive streak and epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition. We show that WNT signalling and its inhibitor DKK1 play key roles in this process downstream of BMP4. Our work demonstrates that a model human epiblast can break axial symmetry despite the absence of asymmetry in the initial signal and of extra-embryonic tissues or maternal cues. Our three-dimensional model is an assay for the molecular events underlying human axial symmetry breaking.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.