近日，日本京都大学教授Takashi Hiiragi及其小组的研究显示，细胞形状、基质和组织动力学的耦合确保了胚胎模式的稳健性。该项研究成果发表在2025年2月18日出版的《Nature Cell Biology》上。

基于细胞动力学定量和模拟，该课题组研究人员展示了盐和胡椒外胚层和原始内胚层（PrE）细胞是如何塑造无主题囊胚的内部细胞群的。结合细胞命运和动力学，PrE细胞形成了依赖于RAC1的向流体腔表面迁移所需的顶端极性的肌动蛋白突起，PrE细胞由于张力降低而被困在流体腔表面。同时，PrE细胞沉积细胞外基质梯度，可能打破了组织水平的对称性，并共同引导它们自己的迁移。

单主题胚胎的组织大小扰动及其与猴和人囊胚的比较进一步表明，固定比例的前胚层/外胚层细胞在胚胎大小和组织几何形状方面是最佳的，尽管存在可变性，但可以确保哺乳动物早期发育过程中的模式稳定性。

据了解，组织模式协调形态发生、细胞动力学和命运规范。在哺乳动物胚胎发生过程中，尽管存在固有的发育变异性，但如何精确地实现模式仍然是一个挑战。

附：英文原文

Title: Coupling of cell shape, matrix and tissue dynamics ensures embryonic patterning robustness

Author: Moghe, Prachiti, Belousov, Roman, Ichikawa, Takafumi, Iwatani, Chizuru, Tsukiyama, Tomoyuki, Erzberger, Anna, Hiiragi, Takashi

Issue&Volume: 2025-02-18

Abstract: Tissue patterning coordinates morphogenesis, cell dynamics and fate specification. Understanding how precision in patterning is robustly achieved despite inherent developmental variability during mammalian embryogenesis remains a challenge. Here, based on cell dynamics quantification and simulation, we show how salt-and-pepper epiblast and primitive endoderm (PrE) cells pattern the inner cell mass of mouse blastocysts. Coupling cell fate and dynamics, PrE cells form apical polarity-dependent actin protrusions required for RAC1-dependent migration towards the surface of the fluid cavity, where PrE cells are trapped due to decreased tension. Concomitantly, PrE cells deposit an extracellular matrix gradient, presumably breaking the tissue-level symmetry and collectively guiding their own migration. Tissue size perturbations of mouse embryos and their comparison with monkey and human blastocysts further demonstrate that the fixed proportion of PrE/epiblast cells is optimal with respect to embryo size and tissue geometry and, despite variability, ensures patterning robustness during early mammalian development.

DOI: 10.1038/s41556-025-01618-9

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41556-025-01618-9