Cytoskeletal tension regulates mesodermal spatial organization and subsequent vascular fate

Morphogenesis during human development relies on the interplay between physiochemical cues that are mediated in part by cellular density and cytoskeletal tension. Here, we interrogated these factors on vascular lineage specification during human-induced pluripotent stem-cell (hiPSC) fate decision. We found that independent of chemical cues, spatially presented physical cues induce the self-organization of Brachyury-positive mesodermal cells, in a RhoA/Rho-associated kinase (ROCK)-dependent manner. Using unbiased support vector machine (SVM) learning, we found that density alone is sufficient to predict mesodermal fate. Furthermore, the long-withstanding presentation of spatial confinement during hiPSC differentiation led to an organized vascular tissue, reminiscent of native blood vessels, a process dependent on cell density as found by SVM analysis. Collectively, these results show how tension and density relate to vascular identity mirroring early morphogenesis. We propose that such a system can be applied to study other aspects of the stem-cell niche and its role in embryonic patterning.