2025年6月18日出版的《细胞》杂志发表了东南大学林承棋研究团队的最新成果，他们揭示了早期小鼠器官发生过程中完整胚胎的数字重建。
研究组分析了来自6个E7.5-E8.0胚胎的285个序列切片，在单细胞分辨率下获得了早期器官发生过程中完整的时空转录组和信号图谱。通过开发SEU-3D，小组重建了数字胚胎，从而可以在本地空间背景下研究区域化的基因表达。研究团队建立了一种空间信息基因-细胞共嵌入方法，系统地表征了内胚层和中胚层衍生物的空间图谱，并阐明了跨胚层和细胞类型的信号网络。
此外，小组还发现了在E7.75时沿胚胎-胚胎外界面形成的原基决定区（PDZ），这表明协调的信号通信有助于心脏原基的形成。总的来说，高分辨率的“数字胚胎”为早期器官发生提供了重要的见解，并为研究发育和疾病提供了独特的空间平台。
据介绍，早期器官发生是胚胎发育的关键阶段，其特点是广泛的细胞命运规范，以启动器官形成，但也具有高度的发育缺陷易感性。
附：英文原文
Title: Digital reconstruction of full embryos during early mouse organogenesis
Author: Peng Xie, Juan Shen, Yi Yang, Xinrui Wang, Wei Liu, Hailong Cao, Yanying Zheng, Chen Wu, Guangyao Mao, Linjin Chen, Jingjing He, Weiheng Zheng, Zepu Yang, Xiao Zhang, Xu Jiang, Xianfa Yang, Ke Fang, Zhao Zhang, Xin Xue, Xueting Chen, Chaoyi Wang, Xing Liu, Ling Liu, Xuebiao Yao, Naihe Jing, Wei Xie, Jin Liu, Hua Cao, Zhuojuan Luo, Xiaodong Fang, Chengqi Lin
Issue&Volume: 2025-06-18
Abstract: Early organogenesis is a crucial stage in embryonic development, characterized by extensive cell fate specification to initiate organ formation but also by a high susceptibility to developmental defects. Here, we profiled 285 serial sections from six E7.5–E8.0 embryos to generate full spatiotemporal transcriptome and signal maps during early organogenesis at single-cell resolution. By developing SEU-3D, we reconstructed digital embryos, enabling investigation of regionalized gene expression in the native spatial context. We established a space-informed gene-cell co-embedding approach, systematically characterized the spatial atlas of endoderm and mesoderm derivatives, and elucidated signaling networks across germ layers and cell types. Furthermore, we characterized a primordium determination zone (PDZ) formed along the anterior embryonic-extraembryonic interface at E7.75, and it revealed that the coordinated signaling communications contribute to the formation of cardiac primordium. Collectively, the high-resolution “digital embryo” provides significant insights into early organogenesis and a unique spatial platform for studying development and diseases.
DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2025.05.035
Source: https://www.cell.com/cell/abstract/S0092-8674(25)00622-1