{"id":71725,"date":"2024-11-18T11:33:43","date_gmt":"2024-11-18T10:33:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/?p=71725"},"modified":"2024-11-18T11:33:49","modified_gmt":"2024-11-18T10:33:49","slug":"from-head-to-tail-how-cells-give-rise-to-our-body-plan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/science-technology\/from-head-to-tail-how-cells-give-rise-to-our-body-plan\/","title":{"rendered":"From head to tail: how cells give rise to our body plan"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>We all start our lives as symmetric balls of cells. In humans, during the first few weeks after fertilisation, embryonic cells undergo several rounds of division, increasing their mass. Then comes gastrulation, the process that changes everything and establishes our body plan. During gastrulation, the collection of uniform cells that make up the early embryo break symmetry and reorganise into a multi-layered structure with distinct cell types. At this pivotal moment, our body plan is set. Gastrulation also establishes the three body axes: head\u2013tail, front\u2013back, and left\u2013right. This process requires cells to interact and coordinate with each other with astonishing precision. However, how this is achieved is still largely a mystery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/groups\/trivedi\/\">Trivedi Group<\/a> at EMBL Barcelona studies how cells give rise to our body plan and has now published a study in the journal <em>Development<\/em> that may enhance our understanding of early mammalian development.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt is believed that the anterior\u2013posterior axis of our body, that means our head-to-feet structure, requires external signals to be developed. In our study, we show that cells can independently orchestrate the first steps of symmetry breaking, without any external input,\u201d said Vikas Trivedi, Group Leader at EMBL Barcelona.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">All by themcells<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Gastruloid\">Gastruloids<\/a> are three-dimensional aggregates of embryonic stem cells grown in the lab in a controlled environment. Over time, they form structures that mimic many of the features of early mammalian embryos, thus allowing us to peek into developmental processes that would be almost impossible to examine<em> <\/em>inside the uterus. But what is most remarkable about these little cell aggregates is that they manage to form such structures without the patterns or cues that typically instruct embryonic cells within the uterus. Thus, they can help us understand the true potential of embryonic cells to self-organise while creating a body plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cOur work aims to detail the earliest developmental events in gastruloids by culturing them under minimal conditions,\u201d said Kerim Anlas, former PhD student at Trivedi Group and co-first author of the work. &#8220;This could reveal previously unknown features of early embryogenesis that cannot be demonstrated from studying only the native embryo.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"vf-figure wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"600\" class=\"vf-figure__image\" src=\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Kerim-and-Nicola_IRC.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-71731\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Kerim-and-Nicola_IRC.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Kerim-and-Nicola_IRC-300x180.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Kerim-and-Nicola_IRC-768x461.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><figcaption class=\"vf-figure__caption\">The Trivedi group aims to understand the self-organisation of cells, fundamental to metazoan development, through comparative study of embryos and organoids that generate a global coordinate system de novo. Credit: Carla Manzanas\/EMBL<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The Trivedi team grew gastruloids from mouse embryonic stem cells for the first 72 hours after fertilisation, the time window when mouse embryonic cells make the most important decisions to define a head\u2013tail axis. At different time points, they analysed gene expression and other molecular signatures in individual gastruloid cells.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The team found that gastruloids can break symmetry, with cells at two ends of the structure attaining distinct properties (a process known as polarisation), without external chemical stimulation. For example, a subset of gastruloid cells begin to express a gene called Brachyury and undergo changes in cell shape, gene expression, and motility. These would eventually form the mesoderm \u2013 the embryonic tissue layer which later gives rise to muscles and bones. Other specialised cell types also emerge, expressing specific markers and occupying distinct locations within the gastruloid. These are the first steps in anterior\u2013posterior axis formation, and as the scientists showed, can happen in the absence of external signals.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Notably, the researchers also explored how similar cells in gastruloids are to those in embryos. They observed that while in the initial stages, gastruloid and embryonic cells express different genes, they nevertheless give rise to very similar differentiated cell types. &#8220;This suggests that cells can reach similar end states both in gastruloids and <em>in vivo<\/em> but with distinct initial states,&#8221; said Trivedi.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Nicola Gritti, Image Analysis Specialist at the Mesoscopic Imaging Facility, former postdoc at the Trivedi Group, and co-first author, believes that these findings can serve as a new way of studying early development in mammals. \u201cStudies on embryo-like <em>in vitro<\/em> systems commonly aim to present a faithful replica of native development and hence focus on highlighting similarities to the actual embryo,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Here, we report key differences to the events observed <em>in vivo<\/em> that have not yet been thoroughly studied.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Trivedi Group aims to further study the alternative developmental pathways observed in gastruloids, and combine <em>in vitro<\/em> systems with engineering, data science and theoretical models to understand the versatility of stem cells.&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Researchers from the Trivedi Group at EMBL Barcelona unveil how cells can act autonomously during early development.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":94,"featured_media":71793,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17591],"tags":[497,13968,431,679],"embl_taxonomy":[9762,17369,19389],"class_list":["post-71725","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-science-technology","tag-barcelona","tag-organoids","tag-tissue-biology","tag-trivedi","embl_taxonomy-embl-barcelona","embl_taxonomy-theoryembl","embl_taxonomy-trivedi-group"],"acf":{"featured":true,"show_featured_image":false,"field_target_display":"embl","field_article_language":{"value":"english","label":"English"},"article_intro":"<p>Researchers from the Trivedi Group at EMBL Barcelona unveil how cells can behave autonomously during early development<\/p>\n","related_links":[{"link_description":"Trivedi Group","link_url":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/groups\/trivedi\/"},{"link_description":"Vikas Trivedi receives ERC Synergy Grant","link_url":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/lab-matters\/vikas-trivedi-from-embl-barcelona-receives-erc-synergy-grant\/"},{"link_description":"The people behind the papers \u2013 Kerim Anla\u015f and Vikas Trivedi","link_url":"https:\/\/journals.biologists.com\/dev\/article\/151\/22\/dev204481\/362992\/The-people-behind-the-papers-Kerim-Anlas-and-Vikas"}],"source_article":[{"publication_title":"Early autonomous patterning of the anteroposterior axis in gastruloids","publication_link":{"title":"","url":"https:\/\/journals.biologists.com\/dev\/article\/151\/22\/dev202171\/362993\/Early-autonomous-patterning-of-the-anteroposterior","target":""},"publication_authors":"Anla\u015f K., Gritti N. et al.","publication_source":"Development","publication_date":"11\/2024","publication_doi":"10.1242\/dev.202171"}],"in_this_article":false,"press_contact":"None","article_translations":false,"languages":""},"embl_taxonomy_terms":[{"uuid":"a:3:{i:0;s:36:\"b14d3f13-5670-44fb-8970-e54dfd9c921a\";i:1;s:36:\"89e00fee-87f4-482e-a801-4c3548bb6a58\";i:2;s:36:\"762176bb-d12e-4c94-8964-6dbb76e15c42\";}","parents":[],"name":["EMBL Barcelona"],"slug":"embl-barcelona","description":"Where &gt; All EMBL sites &gt; EMBL Barcelona"},{"uuid":"a:3:{i:0;s:36:\"302cfdf7-365b-462a-be65-82c7b783ebf7\";i:1;s:36:\"e6ac6e6e-6386-48ff-9a0b-618e391d09bb\";i:2;s:36:\"0600cd2b-3576-4124-b7dc-f93542294f8a\";}","parents":[],"name":["Theory@EMBL"],"slug":"theoryembl","description":"What &gt; Research &gt; Theory@EMBL"},{"uuid":"a:3:{i:0;s:36:\"302cfdf7-365b-462a-be65-82c7b783ebf7\";i:1;s:36:\"18a7a17b-e276-4afd-b0ca-8ddac1883d45\";i:2;s:36:\"365161ee-79a9-4010-8e7b-948e597af400\";}","parents":[],"name":["Trivedi Group"],"slug":"trivedi-group","description":"What &gt; Tissue biology and disease modelling &gt; Trivedi Group"}],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>From head to tail: how cells give rise to our body plan | EMBL<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Researchers from the Trivedi Group at EMBL Barcelona unveil how cells can act autonomously during early development.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/science-technology\/from-head-to-tail-how-cells-give-rise-to-our-body-plan\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"From head to tail: how cells give rise to our body plan | EMBL\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Researchers from the Trivedi Group at EMBL Barcelona unveil how cells can act autonomously during early development.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/science-technology\/from-head-to-tail-how-cells-give-rise-to-our-body-plan\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"EMBL\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/embl.org\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-11-18T10:33:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-11-18T10:33:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/20240812_Trivedi_composition@0.3x-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Carla Manzanas\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@embl\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@embl\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Carla Manzanas\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/science-technology\/from-head-to-tail-how-cells-give-rise-to-our-body-plan\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/science-technology\/from-head-to-tail-how-cells-give-rise-to-our-body-plan\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Carla Manzanas\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/40c2c3096ae3f56b1304b22fb8c0efb1\"},\"headline\":\"From head to tail: how cells give rise to our body plan\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-11-18T10:33:43+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-11-18T10:33:49+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/science-technology\/from-head-to-tail-how-cells-give-rise-to-our-body-plan\/\"},\"wordCount\":739,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/science-technology\/from-head-to-tail-how-cells-give-rise-to-our-body-plan\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/20240812_Trivedi_composition@0.3x-1.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"barcelona\",\"organoids\",\"tissue biology\",\"trivedi\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Science &amp; 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Credit: Trivedi Group, Isabel Romero Calvo\/EMBL"},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/","name":"European Molecular Biology Laboratory News","description":"News from the European Molecular Biology Laboratory","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#organization"},"alternateName":"EMBL News","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#organization","name":"European Molecular Biology Laboratory","alternateName":"EMBL","url":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/EMBL_logo_colour-1-300x144-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/EMBL_logo_colour-1-300x144-1.png","width":300,"height":144,"caption":"European Molecular Biology Laboratory"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/embl.org\/","https:\/\/x.com\/embl","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/embl_org\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/15813\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/emblmedia\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/40c2c3096ae3f56b1304b22fb8c0efb1","name":"Carla Manzanas","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/14ed25b349f20c950811a10cef35721ed66d9f8d136445e2d53bb0dd811984f1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/14ed25b349f20c950811a10cef35721ed66d9f8d136445e2d53bb0dd811984f1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Carla Manzanas"},"url":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/author\/carlamanzanas-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2\/"}]}},"field_target_display":"embl","field_article_language":{"value":"english","label":"English"},"fimg_url":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/20240812_Trivedi_composition@0.3x-1.jpg","featured_image_src":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/20240812_Trivedi_composition@0.3x-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71725","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/94"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=71725"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71725\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":71801,"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71725\/revisions\/71801"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/71793"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=71725"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=71725"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=71725"},{"taxonomy":"embl_taxonomy","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/embl_taxonomy?post=71725"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}