Mapping cell migrations and fates in a gastruloid model to the human primitive streak

Abstract

Although fate maps of early embryos exist for nearly all model organisms, a fate map of the gastrulating human embryo remains elusive. Here, we use human gastruloids to piece together a rudimentary fate map for the human primitive streak (PS). This is possible because differing levels of BMP, WNT and NODAL lead to self-organization of gastruloids into homogenous subpopulations of endoderm and mesoderm, and comparative analysis of these gastruloids, together with the fate map of the mouse embryo, allows the organization of these subpopulations along an anterior-posterior axis. We also developed a novel cell tracking technique that detected robust fate-dependent cell migrations in our gastruloids comparable with those found in the mouse embryo. Taken together, our fate map and recording of cell migrations provides a first coarse view of what the human PS may resemble in vivo.