加州理工学院Magdalena Zernicka-Goetz研究组近日取得一项新成果。经过不懈努力，他们开发出人类怀孕前三个月羊膜发育图谱。相关论文于2025年7月14日发表在《自然—细胞生物学》杂志上。

以单细胞转录组学为主题，研究组确定了妊娠前三个月人类羊膜中的主要细胞类型和亚型，大致分为上皮细胞、间充质细胞和巨噬细胞谱系。该课题组发现了上皮-间质和上皮-免疫转变，强调了妊娠早期的动态重塑。他们的结果进一步揭示了关键的细胞间通讯途径，包括从间充质细胞到上皮细胞的BMP4信号和从巨噬细胞到间充质细胞的TGF-β信号，表明协调的相互作用驱动羊膜形态发生。

此外，人类、非人类灵长类动物和体外干细胞模型的综合比较表明，基于干细胞的模型概括了羊膜发育的不同阶段，强调需要仔细选择模型系统来准确概括体内羊膜的形成。总的来说，他们的发现提供了羊膜细胞组成和相互作用的详细视图，促进了他们对其发育作用和再生潜力的理解。

据了解，羊膜是支持胎儿发育的重要胚胎外结构，但其个体发生仍不明确。

附：英文原文

Title: Atlas of amnion development during the first trimester of human pregnancy

Author: Hu, Wenqi, Sancho-Serra, Carmen, Gantner, Carlos W., Szafranska, Hanna M., Solanky, Nita, Metcalfe, Kate, Vento-Tormo, Roser, Zernicka-Goetz, Magdalena

Issue&Volume: 2025-07-14

Abstract: The amnion is a critical extra-embryonic structure that supports foetal development, yet its ontogeny remains poorly defined. Here, using single-cell transcriptomics, we identified major cell types and subtypes in the human amnion across the first trimester of pregnancy, broadly categorized into epithelial, mesenchymal and macrophage lineages. We uncovered epithelial–mesenchymal and epithelial–immune transitions, highlighting dynamic remodelling during early pregnancy. Our results further revealed key intercellular communication pathways, including BMP4 signalling from mesenchymal to epithelial cells and TGF-β signalling from macrophages to mesenchymal cells, suggesting coordinated interactions that drive amnion morphogenesis. In addition, integrative comparisons across humans, non-human primates and in vitro stem cell-based models reveal that stem cell-based models recapitulate various stages of amnion development, emphasizing the need for careful selection of model systems to accurately recapitulate in vivo amnion formation. Collectively, our findings provide a detailed view of amnion cellular composition and interactions, advancing our understanding of its developmental role and regenerative potential.

DOI: 10.1038/s41556-025-01696-9

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41556-025-01696-9