# Decoding cell states and tissue morphogenesis in the early mammalian embryo

> **NIH NIH R01** · SLOAN-KETTERING INST CAN RESEARCH · 2024 · $586,084

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
The overarching goal for this project is to understand the events governing the earliest stages of mammalian
embryo development. Specifically, we will investigate how the pluripotent epiblast which generates the embryo-
proper, and its sister lineage the extra-embryonic (or primitive) endoderm, arise from a common progenitor
population, the inner cell mass. Furthermore, we will determine how the cells of these two nascent lineages
differentiate and organize themselves, as they sort into two adjacent tissue layers.
We will use the mouse as an experimentally tractable animal model system to investigate a universal and critical
stage of mammalian development. We will take an integrative approach across scales (from gleaning molecular
details to tissue-level organization) by applying cutting-edge methods, including in toto light microscopic imaging,
the analysis of gene expression and protein localization at the level of single cells across a population of cells,
as well as performing perturbations, pharmacologic and optogenetic manipulations, within the spatiotemporal
context of developing embryos. Our experiments will be coupled to computational analyses of data, and
mathematical modeling. These contextual time and space resolved studies will shed insight into how a population
of progenitors gives rise to two lineages each possessing a distinct identity and stereotypical tissue organization,
and the mechanisms that ensure the robustness reproducibility and scalability of this process.
An in-depth mechanistic understanding of critical events taking place in vivo in the mouse model provides the
foundational knowledge for: extending our understanding to other mammalian species, the stem cell populations
than can be derived from early mammalian embryos which are increasingly being used to generate embryoid
(also referred to as synthetic embryo) models, and the differentiation of cells with distinct identities having
therapeutic potential. Moreover, using a simple and robust in vivo paradigm of self-organization for decoding the
dynamics of cell-cell communication and growth factor signaling will provide insights into how developmental
mechanisms are hijacked during disease progression, and can be targeted for therapeutic intervention.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10826387
- **Project number:** 2R01HD094868-06A1
- **Recipient organization:** SLOAN-KETTERING INST CAN RESEARCH
- **Principal Investigator:** ANNA-KATERINA HADJANTONAKIS
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $586,084
- **Award type:** 2
- **Project period:** 2024-06-21 → 2029-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10826387

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10826387, Decoding cell states and tissue morphogenesis in the early mammalian embryo (2R01HD094868-06A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-26 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10826387. Licensed CC0.

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