Abstract

Embryo development entails the generation of diverse cellular identities and tissues morphologies. Cells need to take the right decision, at the right location, at the right time, and this decision needs to be coordinated with concurrent changes in tissue organisation. The mechanisms that ensure the tight coordination between cell fate decisions and tissue shape changes remain poorly explored. To address this question, my group focuses on the development of the mammalian embryo at the time of implantation into the uterus, a developmental stage that involves a global transcriptional and morphological transformation. Using embryo culture methods and 3D stem cell models, we have recently uncovered novel functional connections between the loss of epithelial architecture and the differentiation of pluripotent cells at gastrulation.