Teresa Krammer, Hannah T Stuart, Elena Gromberg, Keisuke Ishihara, Dillon Cislo, Manuela Melchionda, Fernando Becerril Perez, Jingkui Wang, Elena Costantini, Stefanie Lehr, Laura Arbanas, Alexandra Hörmann, Ralph A Neumüller, Nicola Elvassore, Eric Siggia, James Briscoe, Anna Kicheva, Elly M Tanaka
During neural tube (NT) development, the notochord induces an organizer, the floorplate, which secretes Sonic Hedgehog (SHH) to pattern neural progenitors. Conversely, NT organoids (NTOs) from embryonic stem cells (ESCs) spontaneously form floorplates without the notochord, demonstrating that stem cells can self-organize without embryonic inducers. Here, we investigated floorplate self-organization in clonal mouse NTOs. Expression of the floorplate marker FOXA2 was initially spatially scattered before resolving into multiple clusters, which underwent competition and sorting, resulting in a stable "winning" floorplate...
May 17, 2024: Developmental Cell