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Differentiating Human Embryonic Stem Cells In Micropatterns To Study Cell Fate Specification And Morphogenetic Events During Gastrulation, Kyaw Thu Minn

McKelvey School of Engineering Theses & Dissertations

During mammalian embryogenesis, the first major lineage segregation occurs when embryonic epiblast, and extraembryonic trophectoderm and hypoblast arise in the blastocyst. In the next fundamental and conserved phase of animal embryogenesis known as gastrulation, extraembryonic cells provide signals to epiblast to instruct embryonic patterning, and epiblast gives rise to germ layers ectoderm, mesoderm, and endoderm, that will establish all embryonic tissues. Proper specification and morphogenesis of germ layers during gastrulation is vital for correct embryonic development. Due to ethical and legal restrictions limiting human embryo studies, human gastrulation is poorly understood. Our knowledge of human gastrulation has largely been derived …