Human pluripotent stem cell-derived neuroepithelial cells develop into an organizer for optic tectum formation in the chicken diencephalon (opens in new tab)

Human brain development critically depends on the formation of secondary organizers, which determine specification of neural territories along the antero-posterior axis. Studies on human secondary organizers have proven to be difficult due to technical limitations and ethical concerns. Here, using interspecies transplantations we demonstrate that neuroepithelial cells (NECs) derived from human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) acquire properties of the isthmic organizer (IsO) when transplanted i...