Dr Marta Shahbazi
Self-organization of pluripotent stem cells
Affiliation: MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology
Research
Embryonic development begins with a single cell that gives rise to all the specialised cell types of the adult body. The Shahbazi Group's research seeks to understand how cells in the early mammalian embryo acquire distinct identities and functions, and how these fate decisions are coordinated with changes in embryo shape and organisation.
They focus on the critical period of implantation, when the embryo embeds in the uterus and the basic body plan is established. This period is particularly vulnerable to developmental failure, often linked to alterations in the number of chromosomes. This phenomenon, known as aneuploidy, is very prevalent in early human embryos. Studying both euploid and aneuploid embryos donated from assisted reproductive treatments under regulatory approval allows us to investigate how such errors affect development and how embryos may adapt to them.
Pluripotent cells undergo epithelialisation when cultured in a 3D matrix of extracellular proteins. Yellow: DAPI, cyan: F-actin, magenta: Golgi