Directing Embryonic Tissue Patterning

Human pluripotent stem cells have an amazing capacity to self-organise and form rudimentary tissue structures in vitro. This project seeks to recreate artificial stem cell environments that can guide such tissue patterning processes during early neurodevelopment.  The generation of controllable emergent embryonic tissue structures can be further exploited to screen and identify environmental and genetic factors that cause human birth defects.

Human pluripotent stem cell patterning in combination with a spatio-temporally staged induction protocol can be used to organise different embryonic lineages.

iPSCs derived from patient with neural tube defect exhibit aberrant neural tissue folding in the micropatterned neuroectoderm model.