Establishment of primitive endoderm stem cell lines in mice [scRNA-Seq]

The mammalian blastocyst consists of three distinct cell types: epiblast, trophoblast, and primitive endoderm (PrE). Although stem cell lines that retain functional properties of epiblasts or trophoblasts have been established, establishment of stem cell lines that fully retain developmental potential of PrE has long been awaited. Here we report derivation of primitive endoderm stem (PrES) cells, which are capable to give rise functional PrE derived tissues and support fetal development of PrE-depleted blastocysts in chimeras, in mice. Single-cell RNA-seq experiments were performed to see whether cells were heterogeneous or not.