- Zdravkovic, Tamara;
- Nazor, Kristopher L;
- Larocque, Nicholas;
- Gormley, Matthew;
- Donne, Matthew;
- Hunkapillar, Nathan;
- Giritharan, Gnanaratnam;
- Bernstein, Harold S;
- Wei, Grace;
- Hebrok, Matthias;
- Zeng, Xianmin;
- Genbacev, Olga;
- Mattis, Aras;
- McMaster, Michael T;
- Krtolica, Ana;
- Valbuena, Diana;
- Simón, Carlos;
- Laurent, Louise C;
- Loring, Jeanne F;
- Fisher, Susan J
Mechanisms of initial cell fate decisions differ among species. To gain insights into lineage allocation in humans, we derived ten human embryonic stem cell lines (designated UCSFB1-10) from single blastomeres of four 8-cell embryos and one 12-cell embryo from a single couple. Compared with numerous conventional lines from blastocysts, they had unique gene expression and DNA methylation patterns that were, in part, indicative of trophoblast competence. At a transcriptional level, UCSFB lines from different embryos were often more closely related than those from the same embryo. As predicted by the transcriptomic data, immunolocalization of EOMES, T brachyury, GDF15 and active β-catenin revealed differential expression among blastomeres of 8- to 10-cell human embryos. The UCSFB lines formed derivatives of the three germ layers and CDX2-positive progeny, from which we derived the first human trophoblast stem cell line. Our data suggest heterogeneity among early-stage blastomeres and that the UCSFB lines have unique properties, indicative of a more immature state than conventional lines.