Scientists brave enough to grow a spine
Stem cells self-organise into trunk-like structures.
German scientists report that they have successfully simulated an important phase of embryonic development by growing mouse embryonic cells in a petri dish. The structure was the central trunk, which holds the developing neural tubes that will become the spinal cord.
The trunk also had cells that are the precursors of skeleton, cartilage, muscle, and internal organs, closely paralleling embryo development in the womb.
In a paper published in Science, the team led by Germany’s Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics describes how a gel full of proteins helped the suspended cells keep shape while developing.
Unlike in fish or birds, mammal embryos implant on the side of the uterus early in development, which makes them difficult to see. The embryo also undergoes profound changes during this time, so being able to observe this process completely changes how researchers can study life.
The new approach “starts a new era” in embryonic development, says co-author Bernhard Herrmann. “This allows us to observe embryogenesis of the mouse directly, continuously, and with large parallel numbers of samples – which would not be possible in the animal.”
“We can obtain more detailed results more quickly, and without the need for animal research,” says colleague Alexander Meissner. “Of the more complex processes such as morphogenesis, we usually only get snapshots, but this changes with our model.”
Previously, embryo cells grown in a petri dish did not arrange into the structures that normal embryos do. The gel changes that.
“The gel provides support to the cultured cells and orients them in space; they can distinguish inside from outside, for example,” says co-lead author Jess Veenvliet. “The cells are able to establish better communication, which leads to better self-organisation.”