Selleri/Wysocka. Epigenetic landscapes and regulatory divergence of human craniofacial traits

During development, cranial Neural Crest Cells (cNCCs) play major roles in establishing craniofacial morphology and determining its species-specific variation. To understand human distinctive features it is imperative to study human cNCCs and their derivatives in addition to cNCCs from model organisms. Since human NC formation occurs at 3 to 6 weeks of gestation and is largely inaccessible to genetic studies, we have established a human pluripotent stem cell-based cNCC differentiation model in the dish with high relevance to craniofacial development. Moreover, we have extended our model to chimpanzee cNCCs, allowing us to identify molecular features that distinguish human cNCCs from those of our closest evolutionary cousins.