To delineate the characteristics of lineage emergence in the early mammalian embryo, Hiiragi and colleagues analyse the expression profiles of single cells of the inner cell mass as they differentiate into pluripotent epiblast and primitive endoderm. They observe that cells with initially indistinguishable expression profiles, but exhibiting apparently stochastic differences, resolve into distinct lineages in the late blastocyst through the action of Fgf4.
- Yusuke Ohnishi
- Wolfgang Huber
- Takashi Hiiragi
