Analysis of early post-implantation development and establishment of physiological ex vivo culture method in primate

2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project Area: A new foundation for primate developmental biology
• Project/Area Number: 20H05761
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Transformative Research Areas (B)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Review Section: Transformative Research Areas, Section (III)
• Research Institution: Kyoto University
• Principal Investigator: Nakamura Tomonori 京都大学, 白眉センター, 特定准教授 (90648429)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 岡本 郁弘 京都大学, 高等研究院, 特定講師 (40648424)
• Project Period (FY): 2020-10-02 – 2023-03-31
• Keywords: 霊長類 / 発生学 / scRNA-seq

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In this research project, we focused on primate-specific developmental phenomena immediately after implantation using cynomolgus macaques. First, we performed scRNA-seq on embryos at E15-E23 to identify all cell types emerging during early post-implantation. To this end, we developed an algorithm, RECODE, to solve the "curse of dimensionality" problem inherent in scRNA-seq. We found that the developmental stages of embryos change significantly between E17 and E19, and the characters of EXMC and AmEcto, which are not present in mice of the same age. We also found that the differences of inactivation mechanisms of the X chromosome between mice and the mokyes. Furthermore, we investigated the germline lineage induction from primate ESCs and found that the lineage is via AmEcto.

Free Research Field

霊長類発生学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

ヒトの流産の多くが初期に起こると言われているが、ヒトの着床直後の胚発生はなぞに包まれている。また多能性幹細胞を用いた再生医療/創薬研究も大きな期待を寄せられているが、霊長類多能性幹細胞の実態は未知な部分が多い。本研究成果は、大きな期待を寄せられている今後のヒト胚発生研究や臨床応用研究、さらには多能性幹細胞研究のための重要な参照データとなり、今後の研究発展を支える基盤となるものである。