Dr. Pentao LIU
Senior Group Leader / Senior Investigator
Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Cambridge, UK

Summary:

Mouse embryonic stem cells that are derived from the epiblast of the blastocyst contribute to the somatic lineages and the germline when introduced to the blastocyst but are excluded from the extraembryonic lineages such as the trophoblast and the primitive endoderm. I will describe our work on establishing expanded potential stem cells (EPSCs) from individual blastomeres of cleavage stage embryos, and by direct conversion of mouse embryonic stem cells (ESCs) and reprogrammed induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). Similar to blastomeres, one single EPSC can contribute descendants to the embryo proper, extraembryonic endoderm and placenta trophoblasts in chimeras. Bona fide trophoblast stem cell (TSC) lines and extraembryonic endoderm stem (XEN) cells could be directly derived from EPSCs in vitro. Molecular analyses of the epigenome and single cell transcriptome reveal that EPSCs are enriched for blastomere-specific transcriptomic signature and display a dynamic DNA methylome while sharing pluripotency features with ESCs. The generation of mouse EPSCs opens up the possibility of establishing similar type of stem cells in other mammalian species.

Date: Tue, 23-May-2017
Time: 3:30 PM
Venue: Seminar Room 6, LG1/F Laboratory Block, 
21 Sassoon Road, Pokfulam, Hong Kong

ALL ARE WELCOME