Research
I am interested in the epigenetic regulation of early human development. To do this, I employ human naïve and primed pluripotent stem cells as 2D models of human epiblast development and make use of stem-cell based embryo models named ‘blastoids’ to study human pre-implantation lineage specification into epiblast, hypoblast and trophectoderm and allows implantation dynamics to be studied in a 3D system in vitro.
My research has specifically focused on the importance of Polycomb repressive complex (PRC) epigenetic enzymes, made up of PRC1 and PRC2 complexes, which shape the chromatin landscape of early human embryos and stem cells. Using CRISPR and chemical inhibition approaches, we have established a key role for a PRC1 subcomplex in human primed to naïve reprogramming, and the importance of PRC2 in safeguarding the human pre-implantation epiblast from trophoblast differentiation.
My current project uses blastoids as a model to study the importance of Polycomb complexes in human blastoid lineage specification, to understand the key molecular events underpinning the earliest stages of human embryo development.
Publications
Zijlmans*, Talon*, Verhelst*, Bendall* et al., - Integrated multi-omics reveal polycomb repressive complex 2 restricts human trophoblast induction, Nature cell biology 24 (6), 858-871 (2022)
Collier*, Bendall* et al., - Genome-wide screening identifies Polycomb repressive complex 1.3 as an essential regulator of human naïve pluripotent cell reprogramming, Science advances 8 (12), eabk0013 (2022)
Bendall and Semprich - Chromatin Profiling of Human Naïve Pluripotent Stem Cells, Human Naïve Pluripotent Stem Cells, 181-200 (2021)
Maskalenka et al., - NANOGP1, a tandem duplicate of NANOG, exhibits partial functional conservation in human naïve pluripotent stem cells, Development 150 (2), dev201155 (2023)
Molè et al., - Modeling human embryo implantation in vitro, Cell, volume 189, issue 1 p87-105.e28 (2026)
de Lima Camillo et al., - A single factor for safer cellular rejuvenation, bioRxiv, 2025.06. 05.657370 (2025)
Nocente et al., - Poising and connectivity of emergent human developmental enhancers in the transition from naive to primed pluripotency, bioRxiv, 2025.10. 02.679816 (2025)
