scholarly journals Opening the black box: Stem cell–based modeling of human post-implantation development

2018 ◽  
Vol 218 (2) ◽  
pp. 410-421 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenichiro Taniguchi ◽  
Idse Heemskerk ◽  
Deborah L. Gumucio
Keyword(s):  
Stem Cell ◽  
Human Development ◽  
Experimental Models ◽  
Uterine Wall ◽  
Black Box ◽  
Cellular Mechanisms ◽  
Early Human Development ◽  
Post Implantation ◽  
Early Human

Proper development of the human embryo following its implantation into the uterine wall is critical for the successful continuation of pregnancy. However, the complex cellular and molecular changes that occur during this post-implantation period of human development are not amenable to study in vivo. Recently, several new embryo-like human pluripotent stem cell (hPSC)–based platforms have emerged, which are beginning to illuminate the current black box state of early human post-implantation biology. In this review, we will discuss how these experimental models are carving a way for understanding novel molecular and cellular mechanisms during early human development.

scholarly journals Role of SHH in Patterning Human Pluripotent Cells towards Ventral Forebrain Fates

Cells ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 914
Author(s):  
Melanie V. Brady ◽  
Flora M. Vaccarino
Keyword(s):  
Stem Cell ◽  
Human Brain ◽  
Human Development ◽  
Disease Modeling ◽  
Model Systems ◽  
Advantages And Disadvantages ◽  
Technical Ability ◽  
Cellular Phenotypes

The complexities of human neurodevelopment have historically been challenging to decipher but continue to be of great interest in the contexts of healthy neurobiology and disease. The classic animal models and monolayer in vitro systems have limited the types of questions scientists can strive to answer in addition to the technical ability to answer them. However, the tridimensional human stem cell-derived organoid system provides the unique opportunity to model human development and mimic the diverse cellular composition of human organs. This strategy is adaptable and malleable, and these neural organoids possess the morphogenic sensitivity to be patterned in various ways to generate the different regions of the human brain. Furthermore, recapitulating human development provides a platform for disease modeling. One master regulator of human neurodevelopment in many regions of the human brain is sonic hedgehog (SHH), whose expression gradient and pathway activation are responsible for conferring ventral identity and shaping cellular phenotypes throughout the neural axis. This review first discusses the benefits, challenges, and limitations of using organoids for studying human neurodevelopment and disease, comparing advantages and disadvantages with other in vivo and in vitro model systems. Next, we explore the range of control that SHH exhibits on human neurodevelopment, and the application of SHH to various stem cell methodologies, including organoids, to expand our understanding of human development and disease. We outline how this strategy will eventually bring us much closer to uncovering the intricacies of human neurodevelopment and biology.

Novel application of three-dimensional HDlive imaging in prenatal diagnosis from the first trimester

2015 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ritsuko Kimata Pooh ◽  
Asim Kurjak
Keyword(s):  
Human Development ◽  
New Technology ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
First Trimester ◽  
High Definition ◽  
Noninvasive Diagnostics ◽  
Anatomy And Physiology ◽  
Early Human Development ◽  
2D Ultrasound ◽  
Early Human

AbstractRecent development of three-dimensional (3D) high definition (HD) ultrasound has resulted in remarkable progress in visualization of early embryos and fetuses in sonoembryology. The new technology of HDlive assesses both structural and functional developments in the first trimester with greater reliably than two-dimensional (2D) ultrasound. The ability to visualize not only fetal face, hands, fingers, feet, and toes, but also amniotic membranes, is better with volumetric ultrasound than 2D ultrasound. In this article, detailed and comprehensive structures of normal and abnormal fetuses depicted by 3D HDlive are presented, including various faces of Down’s syndrome and holoprosencephaly, as well as low-set ear and finger/toe abnormalities from the first trimester. Three-dimensional HDlive further “humanizes” the fetus, enables detailed observation of the fetal face in the first trimester as shown in this article, and reveals that a small fetus is not more a fetus but a “person” from the first trimester. There has been an immense acceleration in understanding of early human development. The anatomy and physiology of embryonic development is a field where medicine exerts greatest impact on early pregnancy at present, and it opens fascinating aspects of embryonic differentiation. Clinical assessment of those stages of growth relies heavily on 3D/four-dimensional (4D) HDlive, one of the most promising forms of noninvasive diagnostics and embryological phenomena, once matters for textbooks are now routinely recorded with outstanding clarity. New advances deserve the adjective “breathtaking”, including 4D parallel study of the structural and functional early human development.

scholarly journals Development of 3D Ultrasound

2010 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 205-215 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kazunori Baba
Keyword(s):  
Human Development ◽  
Clinical Application ◽  
3D Ultrasound ◽  
Obstetrics And Gynecology ◽  
General Interest ◽  
Early Human Development ◽  
3D Sonography ◽  
Further Development ◽  
Early Human ◽  
Made In

Abstract Significant advances have been made in recent years in clinical application of 3D sonography in both obstetrics and gynecology. Since the author pioneered the use of 3D sonography many new clinical useful techniques have been used for better visualization of early human development and for the diagnostics of many gynecological problems as well as the use of 3D in management of female infertility. In this review we are describing further development in 3D ultrasound, which should be of general interest of readers of this journal.

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