Stem cell-based embryo models: a tool to study early human development

Baojiang Wu^#^{1

2}, Jitesh Neupane^#³, Yang Zhou^#^{1

2}, Jingcheng Zhang⁴, Yanglin Chen^{1

2}, M Azim Surani³, Yong Zhang⁵, Siqin Bao^{6

7}, Xihe Li^{8

9

10}

Affiliations

¹ The State Key Laboratory of Reproductive Regulation and Breeding of Grassland Livestock, College of Life Sciences, Inner Mongolia University, Hohhot, 010020, China.
² Research Center for Animal Genetic Resources of Mongolia Plateau, College of Life Sciences, Inner Mongolia University, Hohhot, 010020, China.
³ The Gurdon Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 1QN, UK.
⁴ Key Laboratory of Animal Biotechnology of the Ministry of Agriculture, College of Veterinary Medicine, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, 712100, China.
⁵ Key Laboratory of Animal Biotechnology of the Ministry of Agriculture, College of Veterinary Medicine, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, 712100, China. zhy1956@263.net.
⁶ The State Key Laboratory of Reproductive Regulation and Breeding of Grassland Livestock, College of Life Sciences, Inner Mongolia University, Hohhot, 010020, China. baosq@imu.edu.cn.
⁷ Research Center for Animal Genetic Resources of Mongolia Plateau, College of Life Sciences, Inner Mongolia University, Hohhot, 010020, China. baosq@imu.edu.cn.
⁸ The State Key Laboratory of Reproductive Regulation and Breeding of Grassland Livestock, College of Life Sciences, Inner Mongolia University, Hohhot, 010020, China. lixh@imu.edu.cn.
⁹ Research Center for Animal Genetic Resources of Mongolia Plateau, College of Life Sciences, Inner Mongolia University, Hohhot, 010020, China. lixh@imu.edu.cn.
¹⁰ Inner Mongolia Saikexing Institute of Breeding and Reproductive Biotechnology in Domestic Animals, Hohhot, 011517, China. lixh@imu.edu.cn.

^# Contributed equally.

PMID: 39969747
DOI: 10.1007/s11427-024-2741-1

Review

Stem cell-based embryo models: a tool to study early human development

Baojiang Wu et al. Sci China Life Sci. 2025 Jun.

. 2025 Jun;68(6):1626-1645.

doi: 10.1007/s11427-024-2741-1. Epub 2025 Feb 17.

Authors

Baojiang Wu^#^{1

2}, Jitesh Neupane^#³, Yang Zhou^#^{1

2}, Jingcheng Zhang⁴, Yanglin Chen^{1

2}, M Azim Surani³, Yong Zhang⁵, Siqin Bao^{6

7}, Xihe Li^{8

9

10}

Affiliations

¹ The State Key Laboratory of Reproductive Regulation and Breeding of Grassland Livestock, College of Life Sciences, Inner Mongolia University, Hohhot, 010020, China.
² Research Center for Animal Genetic Resources of Mongolia Plateau, College of Life Sciences, Inner Mongolia University, Hohhot, 010020, China.
³ The Gurdon Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 1QN, UK.
⁴ Key Laboratory of Animal Biotechnology of the Ministry of Agriculture, College of Veterinary Medicine, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, 712100, China.
⁵ Key Laboratory of Animal Biotechnology of the Ministry of Agriculture, College of Veterinary Medicine, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, 712100, China. zhy1956@263.net.
⁶ The State Key Laboratory of Reproductive Regulation and Breeding of Grassland Livestock, College of Life Sciences, Inner Mongolia University, Hohhot, 010020, China. baosq@imu.edu.cn.
⁷ Research Center for Animal Genetic Resources of Mongolia Plateau, College of Life Sciences, Inner Mongolia University, Hohhot, 010020, China. baosq@imu.edu.cn.
⁸ The State Key Laboratory of Reproductive Regulation and Breeding of Grassland Livestock, College of Life Sciences, Inner Mongolia University, Hohhot, 010020, China. lixh@imu.edu.cn.
⁹ Research Center for Animal Genetic Resources of Mongolia Plateau, College of Life Sciences, Inner Mongolia University, Hohhot, 010020, China. lixh@imu.edu.cn.
¹⁰ Inner Mongolia Saikexing Institute of Breeding and Reproductive Biotechnology in Domestic Animals, Hohhot, 011517, China. lixh@imu.edu.cn.

^# Contributed equally.

PMID: 39969747
DOI: 10.1007/s11427-024-2741-1

Abstract

How a mammalian fertilized egg acquires totipotency and develops into a full-term offspring is a fundamental scientific question. Human embryonic development is difficult to study due to limited resources, technical challenges and ethics. Moreover, the precise regulatory mechanism underlying early human embryonic development remains unknown. In recent years, the emergence of stem cell-based embryo models (SCBEM) provides the opportunity to reconstitute pre- to post-implantation development in vitro. These models to some extent mimic the embryo morphologically and transcriptionally, and thus may be used to study key events in mammalian pre- and post-implantation development. Many groups have successfully generated SCBEM of the mouse and human. Here, we provide a comparative review of the mouse and human SCBEM, discuss the capability of these models to mimic natural embryos and give a perspective on their potential future applications.

Keywords: blastoid; embryo model; gastruloid; primordial germ cell; stem cell.

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Conflict of interest statement

Compliance and ethics. The authors declare that they have no conflict of Interest.

Cited by

TFAP2A+ embryonic progenitor cells undergo fate diversification to give rise to human amnion, germline, and mesoderm.
Arabpour A, DiRusso JA, Wu QY, Larsen M, Hwang YS, Jacobson E, Pham TXA, Agranonik N, Sparrow M, Monteiro VL, Bian ZR, Pelaez-Restrepo N, Callejas-Marin A, Pasque V, Plath K, Clark AT. Arabpour A, et al. bioRxiv [Preprint]. 2025 Jun 27:2025.06.26.661839. doi: 10.1101/2025.06.26.661839. bioRxiv. 2025. PMID: 40667219 Free PMC article. Preprint.

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Stem cell-based embryo models: a tool to study early human development

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Stem cell-based embryo models: a tool to study early human development

Authors

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Abstract

Conflict of interest statement

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