创新背景

细胞履行功能的关键过程是DNA调控，怀孕期间的细胞过程是关键，当时的胚胎细胞必须发育形成胚胎所需的所有类型。

创新过程

比利时鲁汶大学、英国Babraham研究所、根特大学和奥地利科学院等组成研究团队，发现胚胎发育的第一个细胞是由一种名为PRC2的蛋白质调节决定，这个新见解有助于帮助研究减少早孕损失。相关研究成果发表在《自然细胞生物学》上。

人类最初的存在由精子细胞和卵细胞开始。研究通过模仿怀孕的第一周观察胚胎细胞如何在囊胚细胞模型中被调节。第五天或第六天时，受精卵已经成为囊胚，由内部和外部细胞群组成一个快速分裂的细胞簇。外形将形成胎盘，内部细胞会发育成胚胎。整个发育过程至关重要且复杂，最轻微的错误都可能结束胚胎发育。
人的身体由包含数百种执行不同功能的细胞，是不同组织和器官的重要组成部分。人体中的每个细胞都有DNA，根据细胞的功能，部分DNA会被“打开”或关闭，以便在正确的时机激活正确的基因。

（人类胚胎单细胞图谱）

早期胚胎细胞最终形成所有细胞，科学家一直认为早期胚胎细胞可以在发育过程中轻松打开和关闭基因。但研究表明，细胞在人类胚胎发育过程中需要采取的第一个决定是它们是否会形成胚胎本身或胎盘。第一个决定并不容易实施，想要形成胎盘，囊胚的外细胞必须在正确的时间打开正确的开关，细胞需要克服障碍才能打开胎盘基因。
研究通过使用胚泡、干细胞胚胎模型来研究人类胚胎在发育的第一周的生长过程，其中干细胞被组织成胚胎样结构并模仿胚胎发育。研究人员表示，通过使用类卵样蛋白模型，可以研究人类胚胎发育，在某种程度上概括了人类胚胎在发育初期的行为。
使用胚胎模型研究，团队观察到去除蛋白质PRC2时，胚泡中存在的胎盘细胞数量增加，表明PRC2是胎盘细胞出现的屏障。

创新价值

为控制干细胞特化和胚芽体发育的能力提出新见解，有助于在实验室中研究初始胎盘细胞是如何形成的。新发现可能提高科学对胚胎如何在怀孕的最早阶段成功植入子宫的理解。

The PRC2 protein determines the cells in which the embryo develops

A team of researchers from the University of Leuven in Belgium, the Babaham Institute in the UK, the University of Ghent and the Austrian Academy of Sciences found that the first cells of embryonic development are determined by the regulation of a protein called PRC2, a new insight that helps help research reduce the loss of early pregnancies. The relevant research results were published in Natural Cell Biology.

The initial existence of humans begins with sperm cells and egg cells. The study looked at how embryonic cells were regulated in a blastocyst cell model by mimicking the first week of pregnancy. On the fifth or sixth day, the fertilized egg has become a blastocyst, consisting of a rapidly dividing cluster of cells from the internal and external populations of cells. The shape will form a placenta and the cells inside will develop into embryos. The entire developmental process is crucial and complex, and the slightest mistake can end embryonic development.

The human body consists of hundreds of cells that perform different functions and are an important part of different tissues and organs. Every cell in the human body has DNA, and depending on the function of the cell, part of the DNA is "turned on" or turned off, activating the right gene at the right time all at the right time.

Early embryonic cells eventually form all cells, and scientists have long believed that early embryonic cells can easily turn genes on and off during development. But studies have shown that the first decision that cells need to take during human embryonic development is whether they will form the embryo itself or the placenta. The first decision is not easy to implement, to form a placenta, the outer cells of the blastocyst must turn on the right switch at the right time, and the cells need to overcome obstacles to turn on the placental gene.

The study studies study the growth process of human embryos in the first week of development by using blastocyst, stem cell embryo models, in which stem cells are organized into embryonic-like structures and mimic embryonic development. The researchers say that by using an oval-like protein model, human embryonic development can be studied, somehow outlining the behavior of human embryos in the early stages of development.

Using the embryonic model study, the team observed an increase in the number of placental cells present in the blastocyst when the protein PRC2 was removed, suggesting that PRC2 is the barrier to the emergence of placental cells.