Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41259532›Full record

ArticleScience advances2025

Capturing aberrant cell behaviors producing defects in human embryos via live imaging.

Hiroki Akizawa, Ana Domingo-Muelas, Maria Pardo-Figuerez, Blake Hernandez, Goli Ardestani, Robin M Skory, Marta Venturas, Piotr Tetlak, Stephanie Bissiere, Denny Sakkas and 2 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Science advances, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. An Updated Understanding of Human Embryonic Fragmentation.Reproductive sciences (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) · 2026
    Pooled it
  2. Article
  3. Review
  4. Impact of semen quality on the risk of direct cleavage in human embryos.Journal of assisted reproduction and genetics · 2026
    Article
  5. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

12 authors.

Hiroki AkizawaDepartment of Cell and Developmental Biology, Institute for Regenerative Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-1091-5629
Ana Domingo-MuelasDepartment of Cell and Developmental Biology, Institute for Regenerative Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-0871-7925
Maria Pardo-FiguerezCarlos Simon Foundation, Valencia, Spain.ORCID 0000-0003-4856-8220
Blake HernandezDepartment of Cell and Developmental Biology, Institute for Regenerative Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA.ORCID 0009-0009-1260-7364
Goli ArdestaniBoston IVF - IVIRMA Global Research Alliance, Waltham, MA, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-2599-5361
Robin M SkoryDepartment of Cell and Developmental Biology, Institute for Regenerative Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA.ORCID 0000-0001-7235-1828
Marta VenturasBoston IVF - IVIRMA Global Research Alliance, Waltham, MA, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-3977-0152
Piotr TetlakDepartment of Cell and Developmental Biology, Institute for Regenerative Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA.
Stephanie BissiereDepartment of Cell and Developmental Biology, Institute for Regenerative Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA.
Denny SakkasBoston IVF - IVIRMA Global Research Alliance, Waltham, MA, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-9509-6791
Carlos SimonCarlos Simon Foundation, Valencia, Spain.ORCID 0000-0003-0902-9531
Nicolas PlachtaDepartment of Cell and Developmental Biology, Institute for Regenerative Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-5035-7425

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The generation of human embryos in vitro has revolutionized reproductive medicine, and also made it possible to study fundamental aspects of early human development. However, human preimplantation embryos often display an array of morphological defects associated with poor development and implantation. Here, we used live-embryo imaging and computational analysis to capture how these defects can be produced in real time. We record various forms of mitotic errors including lagging chromosomes producing micronuclei, multipolar spindles causing abnormal chromosome organization recapitulated by daughter cells, and uncontrolled scattering of condensed chromosomes. In addition, we capture abnormal cleavage furrow dynamics during cytokinesis producing binucleated and enucleated cells. Finally, we find cells with disrupted mitotic progression ultimately leading to blebbing and fragmentation. Thus, these results document specific aberrant cell behaviors producing morphological defects in real time, and indicate that errors during mitosis and cytokinesis represent a major cause of developmental failures in human embryos.

Indexed as

BlastocystEmbryo, MammalianCytokinesisEmbryonic DevelopmentHumansMitosisSpindle Apparatus

Identifiers

PMID41259532
PMCPMC12629204

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC
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Registered trials

None linked

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.