Researchers in the lab of HMS geneticist Olivier Pourquié have created 3D cell culture models — or organoids — that mimic early spine development in humans.
To the team’s delight, the organoids include a ticking “segmentation clock” like those the researchers previously identified in the embryos of several species and replicated in human stem cells. Each tick of the clock triggers the formation of a regularly spaced vertebra precursor, or somite.
Here, microscope images reveal vivid details in the organoids’ somite-like structures.
The organoids are allowing Pourquié and other researchers to learn more about aspects of human development, including how cells organize or segment into specialized organs and tissues.
For instance, somite formation is hard to study in human embryos because it occurs in the first three to four weeks of gestation, before many people realize they’re pregnant. The fact that the process in the organoids is “virtually identical” to that in human embryos makes the organoids an invaluable tool, Pourquié said.
Yuchuan Miao, HMS research fellow in pathology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, is first author of the study. Pourquié is professor of genetics in the Blavatnik Institute at HMS and the HMS Frank Burr Mallory Professor of Pathology at Brigham and Women’s.
