In Toto Imaging and Reconstruction of Post-Implantation Mouse Development at the Single-Cell Level

Area of Science:

• Developmental Biology
• Cellular Dynamics
• Imaging Technology

Background:

• The mouse embryo is crucial for understanding mammalian development.
• Studying cell behaviors during gastrulation and organogenesis is challenging due to limitations in live imaging and analysis.

Purpose of the Study:

• To overcome limitations in live imaging of developing mouse embryos.
• To create a system for tracking cellular dynamics from gastrulation to organogenesis.
• To build a dynamic atlas of post-implantation mouse development.

Main Methods:

• Developed a self-adapting light-sheet microscope for capturing developing mouse embryos.
• Created a computational framework for reconstructing long-term cell tracks and divisions.
• Generated dynamic fate maps and tissue morphogenesis maps.
• Registered and analyzed cellular dynamics across multiple embryos in space and time.

Main Results:

• Successfully captured post-implantation mouse embryo development at the cellular level.
• Enabled reconstruction of cell tracks, divisions, and dynamic fate maps.
• Constructed a dynamic atlas of mouse development from gastrulation to early organogenesis.
• Provided microscopy and computational methods as a resource.

Conclusions:

• The developed microscopy and computational tools enable unprecedented cellular-level tracking of mouse embryo development.
• The dynamic atlas offers a valuable resource for studying fundamental developmental processes.
• This work advances the ability to investigate cell behaviors during gastrulation and organogenesis.