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Embryonic stem (ES) cells were first discovered in mice in 1981 by Martin Evans. In 1998, James Thomson identified a method to isolate embryonic stem cells from humans. Human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) are obtained from 3-5 day old embryos that remain unused after an in vitro fertilization procedure.
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Profiling Individual Human Embryonic Stem Cells by Quantitative RT-PCR

Profiling Individual Human Embryonic Stem Cells by Quantitative RT-PCR

Published on: May 29, 2014

Transcriptome-wide variability in single embryonic development cells.

Vincent Piras¹, Masaru Tomita¹, Kumar Selvarajoo¹

¹1] Institute for Advanced Biosciences, Keio University, 14-1 Baba-cho, 997-0035, Tsuruoka, Japan [2] Systems Biology Program, Graduate School of Media and Governance, Keio University, 5322 Endo, 252-0882, Fujisawa, Japan.

Scientific Reports

|November 21, 2014

Summary

Early embryonic development shows a shift in molecular variability. Transcriptome-wide gene expression becomes highly diverse and variable from the 8-cell stage due to transcriptional regulation.

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Area of Science:

Developmental Biology
Genomics
Molecular Biology

Background:

Molecular heterogeneity within single cells is vital for cell fate diversification.
The impact of molecular variability on embryonic development remains largely unexplored.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the origins of transcriptome-wide variability during human and mouse embryonic development, from oocytes to blastocysts.
To understand the transition in gene expression diversity and variability throughout early development.

Main Methods:

Analysis of RNA-Seq datasets from human and mouse embryos.
Evaluation of Pearson correlation, Shannon entropy, and noise patterns (η(2) vs. μ).
Utilisation of a stochastic transcriptional model to simulate gene expression patterns.

Main Results:

A phase transition was observed, moving from low to saturating levels of transcriptome-wide expression diversity and variability.
Transcriptome-wide regulation initiates around the 2-cell stage.
Significant variability emerges from the 8-cell stage, driven by amplification and quantal transcriptional activity.

Conclusions:

Early embryonic development exhibits a distinct shift in molecular variability.
Stochastic transcriptional modeling supports the observed patterns of gene expression dynamics.
The 8-cell stage is a critical period for the emergence of significant transcriptome-wide variability.