About this Research Topic
Animal cells continuously migrate and differentiate from the beginning of embryonic development. Tracing the state of cells is of great significance for understanding the origin and fate of cells, the development and regeneration processes of tissues and organs, and the physiological and pathological mechanisms of the body. Early embryonic development in mammals is determined by multiple levels of cellular fate and is among the most important molecular events in living organisms. Studying the establishment processes of early embryonic lineage, the fate determination of different germ layers and tissue precursor cells, and the regulatory mechanisms governing their occurrence and development can not only prevent early development-related diseases, guide cell differentiation and transdifferentiation. Additionally, it provides a reference for the application of large animals in human organ reconstruction and tissue regeneration.
The cell fate map depicts the fate of cells, the developmental stage of embryos, and which cells or regions will produce which tissues. The purpose of lineage tracing is to construct a hierarchical structure of individual cells producing offspring. At present, novel embryo bioengineering technology, genetic recombination tools, and single-cell genome sequencing methods can objectively evaluate cell identity, capturing thousands of gene expression measurements while maintaining the cell resolution required for accurate lineage reconstruction. The advancement of genetics and genomics has led to the rapid development of lineage tracing strategies, making it possible to construct complex lineage relationship trees in developmental systems.
Thus, the current aims of this Research Topic are to collate articles on embryonic cell fate mapping. We encourage interested investigators to submit review articles and original research that aim to promote the research progress of early embryonic development lineage by applying advanced embryonic or genetic methods, such as embryo transfer, gene manipulation, Cre or FLP recombinases, single cell or spatial sequencing.
Types of manuscripts within the scope of this Research Topic:
1.Differentiation patterns of early embryonic cell lineages and their genetic or metabolic regulatory mechanisms.
2.Molecular mechanisms of embryonic germ layer differentiation and organ formation.
3.Genetic markers for cell lineage tracing.
4.Novel technologies to promote the efficiency of cell lineage tracing.
5.Interaction between embryonic cell lineage and developmental disorders (e.g. congenital cardiovascular and neurological diseases)
The cell fate map depicts the fate of cells, the developmental stage of embryos, and which cells or regions will produce which tissues. The purpose of lineage tracing is to construct a hierarchical structure of individual cells producing offspring. At present, novel embryo bioengineering technology, genetic recombination tools, and single-cell genome sequencing methods can objectively evaluate cell identity, capturing thousands of gene expression measurements while maintaining the cell resolution required for accurate lineage reconstruction. The advancement of genetics and genomics has led to the rapid development of lineage tracing strategies, making it possible to construct complex lineage relationship trees in developmental systems.
Thus, the current aims of this Research Topic are to collate articles on embryonic cell fate mapping. We encourage interested investigators to submit review articles and original research that aim to promote the research progress of early embryonic development lineage by applying advanced embryonic or genetic methods, such as embryo transfer, gene manipulation, Cre or FLP recombinases, single cell or spatial sequencing.
Types of manuscripts within the scope of this Research Topic:
1.Differentiation patterns of early embryonic cell lineages and their genetic or metabolic regulatory mechanisms.
2.Molecular mechanisms of embryonic germ layer differentiation and organ formation.
3.Genetic markers for cell lineage tracing.
4.Novel technologies to promote the efficiency of cell lineage tracing.
5.Interaction between embryonic cell lineage and developmental disorders (e.g. congenital cardiovascular and neurological diseases)
Keywords: Early embryonic development, embryonic differentiation, cell lineage differentiation and regulatory mechanisms, genes during organ formation, cell lineage tracing, congenital cardiovascular diseases and neurodevelopmental disorders
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
