Congratulations @joshifrenster.bsky.social, looking forward to all the cool science that will come out of your lab!

Me too! See you there!

This was the first major piece of work that I could lead at my new home @unileiden.bsky.social. I'm thankful for the opportunity to follow old interests in a new environment in a great team. 6/6

Heatmap depicting the influence of signaling manipulations listed at the bottom major embryonic tissue types listed on the left. WNT signaling positively influences NMP and mesoderm, while SMADi positively influences anterior and posterior neural tube and NMP development, but shows a negative influence on mesoderm differentiation.

Finally, we used multivariate modelling to systematically ask how signaling differences amongst protocols govern lineage outcome. We found that SMAD inhibition seems to cooperate with Wnt signaling to drive NMP differentiation and thus the transition to posterior body development. 5/6

Ridge plot showing the TBXT-to-SOX2 expression ratio in the NMP population in 12 stem cell-based axial elongation models and an embryo reference at 3 weeks post conception. Ridges indicate a lower TBXT-to-SOX2 expression ratio in stem cell-derived NMPs compared to those from the embryo.

In comparison to NMPs from the embryo however, both gene expression analysis and trajectory inference showed that NMPs from elongation models are strongly neurally biased. 4/6

Heatmap showing the percentage of 15 early embryo cell types listed on the left in 12 stem cell-based axial elongation models listed on the bottom.

We identified three classes of stem cell based models that are dominated by different tissue types - neural tube, somites, or a combination of both. All three classes contained a population that mapped onto neuromesodermal progenitors (NMPs) driving axial elongation in the embryo. 3/6

Scheme showing depictions of stem cell-based axial organoids on the left, and a human embryo undergoing somitogenesis on the right, with an arrow labelled "mapping" connecting the two

Several stem cell-based models for the human body axis have been published recently, but how exactly do these relate to the human embryo, and what do they tell us about its development? To address this question, we performed a "meta-analysis" mapping scRNAseq data to a unified reference. 2/6

🥁 New pre-print just dropped: Comparative human embryo-mapping reveals neural bias of neuromesodermal progenitors in stem cell axial elongation models www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
led by bsky-less Yuting Wang. 1/6

Congratulations, amazing what you have achieved! All the best for all the years to come!

We are looking for: PhD Student (starting as Research Assistant) and Postdoctoral Researcher in Stem Cell Biology and Mechanobiology. Please RT💕
🔗 About our lab: renew.science/principal_in...
🎓 PhD position: jobportal.ku.dk/phd/?show=15...
🧪 Postdoc position: jobportal.ku.dk/videnskabeli...

A blast indeed it was - thanks @trayon.bsky.social
@mdiazcuadros.bsky.social @bassemh.bsky.social @vanderhaeghenp2.bsky.social for organizing!

Jealous!

Congratulations, awesome news! Looking forward to all the great science that will come out of your group!

This one is high up on the to-read-list: coupling of cell cycle to segmentation clock oscillations

Our lab members are off to cool new jobs (including faculty 🎉) so we are looking for new team members. Experimental postdoc prioritized, but do get in touch if you think you are a good fit.

Also, our PhD program is currently accepting applications: www.molgen.mpg.de/IMPRS/applic...