A micropatterned human pluripotent stem cell-based developmental model was utilized to demonstrate the role of biophysical cues such as cell size and cytoskeletal contractile forces in directing patterning of neuroepithelial and neural plate border cells.
During embryonic development, cells in different locations of the embryo acquire different fates in a self-organized process called fate patterning. The process of how an apparently homogeneous cluster of cells that arises after the first few divisions of the zygote — the cell formed when the sperm fertilizes the egg — can give rise to an appropriately ‘patterned’ orderly embryo has profound significance for basic science. Indeed, arguments and discussions relating to how an embryo patterns fates can be traced all the way back to Aristotle1. Recent studies have highlighted that when provided with appropriate geometric and signalling cues, stem cells have a remarkable capacity to self-organize into structures that recapitulate aspects of developing
