Molecular pathways in human cells reveal potential for developmental pause

Stem cell-derived models to study embryonic diapause in humans 

This dormant state is characterized by reduced cell division, slower development and a decreased ability to attach to the uterine lining. Importantly, the capacity to enter this dormant stage seems to be restricted to a brief developmental period. "The developmental timing of blastoids can be stretched around the blastocyst stage, which is exactly the stage where diapause works in most mammals", says shared first author Dhanur P. Iyer. Moreover, this dormancy is reversible, and blastoids resume normal development when the mTOR pathway is reactivated.

The ability to alter the timing of embryonic development has implications for IVF 

Nicolas Rivron is a group leader at IMBA and funded by an ERC Consolidator Grant.

Source:

IMBA- Institute of Molecular Biotechnology of the Austrian Academy of Sciences