Correlating time-lapse imaging and molecular data in human embryo development and pluripotent stem cells

Renee Reijo Pera, Director, Center for Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research and Education, Stanford University
Monday, June 4, 2012, 3:30 PM to 4:30 PM
Location: 180 Engineering 2, The Simularium
Hosted By UCSC Training Program in Systems Biology of Stem Cells

This is one of two keynote talks for the UCSC CIRM Scholar Research Review Day.

Abstract

Human embryo development occurs via regulation and coordination of diverse cellular processes. We recently documented the development of human embryos from the zygote-to-blastocyst stage using both time-lapse microscopy and gene expression profiling at the single embryo or single blastomere level. We observed that human embryo development follows strict timing in cytokinesis and mitosis and exhibits unique gene expression patterns that are diagnostic of embryo fate prior to embryonic gene activation (EGA) by the 4-cell stage on Day 2. Furthermore, we observed that human embryo development is cell autonomous; within each blastomere, RNA degradation is an active process that must precede EGA. Together, results of single-cell imaging and molecular data suggest that human embryo fate is pre-determined autonomously within the cell by programs inherited from either or both the mother and the father and that computer algorithms are useful to precisely measure embryo cell cycle behaviors that predict success and failure. We have extended results to examine reprogramming of human induced pluripotent stem cells and human embryonic stem cells and differentiation models of disease.

Biography

Renee Reijo Pera focuses on understanding human embryo growth and development, and on characterizing the basic properties of human embryonic stem cells, especially their ability to generate pluripotent stem cells, somatic cells, and germ cells. Her early work resulted in identification of one of the first genes specifically implicated in human germ cell development. Subsequently, her laboratory has established techniques for differentiation of human embryonic stem cells to germ cells and genetic manipulation of the pathways. Reijo Pera is a Stanford University professor. She directs the Center for Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research and Education, the Stanford University Doctoral Program in Stem Cell Biology & Regenerative Medicine, and the Center for Reproductive and Stem Cell Biology in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology.