Cantas Alev

Mtf2 Safeguards Naïve Pluripotency by Restricting Trophectoderm Competence

This study identifies Mtf2 as an epigenetic barrier that maintains naive pluripotency by restricting trophectoderm competence in embryonic stem cells.

Hagfish genome illuminates vertebrate whole genome duplications and their evolutionary consequences

Chromosome-scale inshore hagfish genome places 1R before the cyclostome-gnathostome split and 2R in the gnathostome stem, and reveals two cyclostome-specific duplications (CR1, CR2).

Reconstituting human somitogenesis in vitro

This paper introduces a 3D in vitro model of human somitogenesis using pluripotent stem cells, showing accurate segmentation dynamics and disease relevance.

eSPRESSO: a spatial self-organizing-map clustering method for single-cell transcriptomes of various tissue structures using graph-based networks

eSPRESSO reconstructs 3D tissue structures from single-cell transcriptomes using stochastic-SOM clustering and MCMC optimization, achieving high reproducibility in multiple tissues and revealing spatial discriminator genes.

Species-specific oscillation periods of human and mouse segmentation clocks are due to cell autonomous differences in biochemical reaction parameters

Mouse and human segmentation clocks oscillate at 2-3 h and 5-6 h; slower HES7 degradation and longer delays in human cells, not sequence, explain it.

Bidirectional Wnt signaling between endoderm and mesoderm confer tracheal identity in mouse and human.

This study identifies bidirectional Wnt signaling between endoderm and mesoderm as critical for tracheal identity in mouse and human, with implications for tissue repair.

Modeling the Human Segmentation Clock with Pluripotent Stem Cells

This study models the human segmentation clock using iPSC-derived presomitic mesoderm, identifying oscillatory genes and validating disease-related gene effects.

Mesenchymal-Epithelial Transition Regulates Initiation of Pluripotency Exit before Gastrulation

The paper shows that pluripotent stem cells undergo a mesenchymal-epithelial transition (MET) before losing pluripotency, which is distinct from the gastrulation EMT and regulated by integrin-mediated cell-matrix interactions.