Towards in vitro reconstitution of human early embryonic development
Please join us for a special seminar. All are welcome.
Cantas Alev, MD PhD
Principal Investigator and Professor at the Institute for the Advanced Study of Human Biology (ASHBi), Kyoto University
Talk title: "Towards in vitro reconstitution of human early embryonic development"
Hosted by
How to join
Please register so we can ensure we have the correct room size.
Tuesday, October 7, 2025
11 am - 12 pm
Room BA2165
The Bahen Centre for Information Technology
40 St George St, Toronto, ON M5S 2E4
Abstract
Early embryonic developmental events including somitogenesis, during which the metameric body plan of vertebrates is laid out, have been extensively studied using model organisms such as mouse or chick but remain largely elusive and poorly understood when it comes to human and other primates.
Using induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived presomitic mesoderm (PSM), we previously succeeded to quantify oscillatory activity of the segmentation clock, a molecular oscillator believed to control segmentation process (Matsuda, Yamanaka et al., Nature 2020; Matsuda et al., Science 2020). Interestingly, these in vitro models of the segmentation clock did not show any sign of segmentation or somitogenesis despite the presence of oscillatory activity of clock genes such as HES7. Extending on these earlier findings we then asked whether we could recapitulate not only the clock but also the actual process of segmentation and epithelial somite formation in vitro. Utilizing again pluripotent stem cells as starting material we succeeded to establish a 3D in vitro model of human somitogenesis, which exhibited periodic formation of properly patterned epithelial somites in synchrony with the segmentation clock (Yamanaka, Hamidi et al., Nature 2023). Our selforganizing ‘axioloids’ reconstituted various morphological and molecular features of the emerging human embryonic axis and could be also used to study the pathogenesis of human congenital diseases of the spine.
Currently, we are further improving our axioloid model to reconstitute additional aspects of embryonic development and expanding it also to other primate species including chimpanzee, orangutan, gorilla, macaque and marmoset. Our overall aim is to utilize these and other in vitro model systems to increase our still limited understanding of development, disease and evolution in human and other primates.
Speaker bio: Cantas Alev
Dr. Cantas Alev serves as a Principal Investigator and tenured full professor at the Institute for the Advanced Study of Human Biology (ASHBi), Kyoto University. Leading an international research team at ASHBi, he investigates diverse aspects of early human embryonic development using stem cell-based model systems. His laboratory is interested in and working a wide array of in vitro model systems for embryonic development and organogenesis in humans and other species. These efforts aim to advance our currently limited understanding of human biology, with a particular focus on human development, disease, and evolution.
Dr. Alev earned his Doctor of Medicine (MD) and PhD degrees from the Ruhr University Bochum in Germany, where he also studied medicine and biochemistry. He conducted his postdoctoral research at the RIKEN Center for Developmental Biology (CDB) in Kobe, Japan, under the mentorship of Dr. Guojun Sheng. During this period, his work centered on early embryonic development, with a specific emphasis on mesoderm induction and patterning. Subsequently, as a researcher at the Center for iPS Cell Research and Application (CiRA) in Kyoto, he applied his expertise in embryonic development to develop pluripotent stem cell-based models of human mesoderm development and differentiation. These models included innovative in vitro systems for studying the segmentation clock and spine-related pathologies.
In his current laboratory at ASHBi, Dr. Alev continues to pioneer research on the in vitro reconstitution of human and primate embryonic development and organogenesis. His work particularly focuses on elucidating the mechanisms underlying mesoderm formation and the complex morphogenetic processes driven by mesodermal cells and tissues. Through these studies, Dr. Alev and his team aim to uncover fundamental principles of developmental biology and translate these insights into advancements in regenerative medicine, disease modeling and novel therapies.
