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Blastocysts with
the clinostar

What is a blastocyst?

The blastocyst begins to form after the fertilized egg (zygote), has undergone several rounds of cell division, but before it has implanted in the wall of the uterus. It is a hollow ball of cells that forms about five days after fertilisation and consists of an outer layer of trophoblast cells and an inner mass of cells at one side of the blastocyst that will develop into the embryo.

How to grow blastocysts with 3D cell culture

Blastoids are an in vitro model of the blastocyst. It is possible to culture blastoids in 3D cell culture systems for weeks to study their development and behavior.

There are two ways to do this. In one way, a small number of blastomere cells are isolated from a blastocyst and placed in a 3D cell culture system. The blastomeres will begin to divide and differentiate, forming a blastoid. The other approach uses pluripotent stem cells instead of blastomere cells to form the blastoid. This later approach circumvents the limitation in numbers of blastomere cells available.

Blastocyst graphic.

Blog: Blastoids mimic IVF-derived blastocysts when grown in a 3D environment.

In 2022 researchers at Jun Wu’s Lab at UT Southwestern announced a breakthrough discovery, having developed an efficient method to generate bovine blastocyst-like structures in vivo using the ClinoStar system (see image at the top).

How to work with blastocysts
in the ClinoStar

The 3D culture system provides a more physiological environment for the blastoid to grow in, as it allows for the formation of cell-cell and cell-matrix interactions, as well as the creation of a 3D microenvironment similar to the one found in the uterus.

Studying blastoids in 3D cell culture can provide insight into early embryonic development and the process of blastomere differentiation. It can also be useful for developing strategies for improving the culture and growth of embryos in assisted reproductive technologies, such as in vitro fertilization (IVF).

Clinostar

ClinoStar Research

Get inspired by the newest research made with the ClinoStar system.

Bovine blastocyst like structures derived from stem cell cultures

DOI: 10.1101/2022.12.20.521301

A recent study on a newly developed and efficient method to generate bovine blastocyst-like structures (termed blastoids) via the assembly of trophoblast stem cells and expanded potential stem cells.

 

Investigation of reversible histone acetylation and dynamics in gene expression regulation using 3D liver spheroid model

DOI: 10.1186/s13072-022-00470-7

A demonstration, that 3D liver spheroids are a suitable system to model chromatin dynamics and response to epigenetics inhibitors.

 

A novel NCI-H69V small cell lung cancer functional mini-tumor model for future treatment screening applications

DOI: 10.1002/btpr.3253

In vitro cancer models are crucial in chemotherapy development, and three-dimensional (3D) models aim to bridge the gap between two-dimensional (2D) flat cultures and in vivo testing.

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