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IMAGE: Studying embryonic development in mice and monkeys, researchers led by Kotaro Sasaki of Penn Vet discovered that a layer of cells known as the posterior intermediate mesoderm (far left) gives. view more
Credit: Courtesy of Kotaro Sasaki
Early in human development, during the first trimester of gestation, a fetus may have XX or XY chromosomes that indicate its sex. Yet at this stage a mass of cells known as the bipotential gonad that ultimately develops into either ovaries or testes has yet to commit to its final destiny.
While researchers had studied the steps that go into the later stages of this process, little has been known about the precursors of the bipotential gonad. In a new study published in
Kyoto University Naïve and primed PSCs (iPS cells and embryonic stem cells) represent different periods in development (before and after the embryo implants itself into the uterus). Naïve PSCs can become all the major cell components that make up the villi, which goes on to become the placenta. Primed PSCs cannot and instead form cells that lead to the amnion. The Yasuhiro Takashima lab shows that naïve iPS cells can be induced to form all the stages that mimic early placenta development in humans. Gynecologist Shingo Io knows that during birth there will not only be a baby leaving the mother’s body. Joining the cries that bring joy to the room will be a silent entity, the placenta. Like the baby, this tissue only began to grow upon conception, but little is known about how the placenta develops inside the mother. A new study by Io, CiRA Junior Associate Professor Yasuhiro Takashima and colleagues reports how iPS cells can be used to study this development. The