scholarly journals The Expanding Role for Retinoid Signaling in Heart Development

2008 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. 194-211 ◽  
Author(s):  
Loretta L. Hoover ◽  
Elizabeth G. Burton ◽  
Bonnie A. Brooks ◽  
Steven W. Kubalak
Keyword(s):  
Vitamin A ◽  
Heart Development ◽  
Cardiac Development ◽  
Tube Formation ◽  
Conditional Knockout ◽  
Heart Tube ◽  
Developmental Defects ◽  
Retinoid Signaling ◽  
Developing Heart ◽  
Cardiac Lineage

The importance of retinoid signaling during cardiac development has long been appreciated, but recently has become a rapidly expanding field of research. Experiments performed over 50 years ago showed that too much or too little maternal intake of vitamin A proved detrimental for embryos, resulting in a cadre of predictable cardiac developmental defects. Germline and conditional knockout mice have revealed which molecular players in the vitamin A signaling cascade are potentially responsible for regulating specific developmental events, and many of these molecules have been temporally and spatially characterized. It is evident that intact and controlled retinoid signaling is necessary for each stage of cardiac development to proceed normally, including cardiac lineage determination, heart tube formation, looping, epicardium formation, ventricular maturation, chamber and outflow tract septation, and coronary arteriogenesis. This review summarizes many of the significant milestones in this field and particular attention is given to recently uncovered cross-talk between retinoid signaling and other developmentally significant pathways. It is our hope that this review of the role of retinoid signaling during formation, remodeling, and maturation of the developing heart will serve as a tool for future discoveries.

scholarly journals Hey2 restricts cardiac progenitor addition to the developing heart

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natalie Gibb ◽  
Savo Lazic ◽  
Ashish R. Deshwar ◽  
Xuefei Yuan ◽  
Michael D. Wilson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Heart Development ◽  
Heart Defects ◽  
Myocardial Cell ◽  
Cell Number ◽  
Tube Formation ◽  
Heart Tube ◽  
Cardiac Progenitors ◽  
Developing Heart ◽  
Heart Field ◽  
A Cell

ABSTRACTA key event in vertebrate heart development is the timely addition of second heart field (SHF) progenitor cells to the poles of the heart tube. This accretion process must occur to the proper extent to prevent a spectrum of congenital heart defects (CHDs). However, the factors that regulate this critical process are poorly understood. Here we demonstrate that Hey2, a bHLH transcriptional repressor, restricts SHF progenitor accretion to the zebrafish heart. hey2 expression demarcated a distinct domain within the cardiac progenitor population. In the absence of Hey2 function an increase in myocardial cell number and SHF progenitors was observed. We found that Hey2 limited proliferation of SHF-derived cardiomyocytes in a cell-autonomous manner, prior to heart tube formation, and further restricted the developmental window over which SHF progenitors were deployed to the heart. Taken together, our data suggests a role for Hey2 in controlling the proliferative capacity and cardiac contribution of late-differentiating cardiac progenitors.

The cardiac homeobox gene Csx/Nkx2.5 lies genetically upstream of multiple genes essential for heart development

Development ◽  
1999 ◽  
Vol 126 (6) ◽  
pp. 1269-1280 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Tanaka ◽  
Z. Chen ◽  
S. Bartunkova ◽  
N. Yamasaki ◽  
S. Izumo
Keyword(s):  
Cardiac Myocytes ◽  
Heart Development ◽  
Cardiac Development ◽  
Es Cells ◽  
Homeobox Gene ◽  
Yolk Sac ◽  
Tunel Staining ◽  
Mesoderm Specification ◽  
Developing Heart ◽  
Heart Looping

Csx/Nkx2.5 is a vertebrate homeobox gene with a sequence homology to the Drosophila tinman, which is required for the dorsal mesoderm specification. Recently, heterozygous mutations of this gene were found to cause human congenital heart disease (Schott, J.-J., Benson, D. W., Basson, C. T., Pease, W., Silberbach, G. M., Moak, J. P., Maron, B. J., Seidman, C. E. and Seidman, J. G. (1998) Science 281, 108–111). To investigate the functions of Csx/Nkx2.5 in cardiac and extracardiac development in the vertebrate, we have generated and analyzed mutant mice completely null for Csx/Nkx2.5. Homozygous null embryos showed arrest of cardiac development after looping and poor development of blood vessels. Moreover, there were severe defects in vascular formation and hematopoiesis in the mutant yolk sac. Interestingly, TUNEL staining and PCNA staining showed neither enhanced apoptosis nor reduced cell proliferation in the mutant myocardium. In situ hybridization studies demonstrated that, among 20 candidate genes examined, expression of ANF, BNP, MLC2V, N-myc, MEF2C, HAND1 and Msx2 was disturbed in the mutant heart. Moreover, in the heart of adult chimeric mice generated from Csx/Nkx2.5 null ES cells, there were almost no ES cell-derived cardiac myocytes, while there were substantial contributions of Csx /Nkx2.5-deficient cells in other organs. Whole-mount β-gal staining of chimeric embryos showed that more than 20% contribution of Csx/Nkx2. 5-deficient cells in the heart arrested cardiac development. These results indicate that (1) the complete null mutation of Csx/Nkx2.5 did not abolish initial heart looping, (2) there was no enhanced apoptosis or defective cell cycle entry in Csx/Nkx2.5 null cardiac myocytes, (3) Csx/Nkx2.5 regulates expression of several essential transcription factors in the developing heart, (4) Csx/Nkx2.5 is required for later differentiation of cardiac myocytes, (5) Csx/Nkx2. 5 null cells exert dominant interfering effects on cardiac development, and (6) there were severe defects in yolk sac angiogenesis and hematopoiesis in the Csx/Nkx2.5 null embryos.

scholarly journals Inhibition of transcription factor GATA-4 expression blocks in vitro cardiac muscle differentiation.

1995 ◽  
Vol 15 (8) ◽  
pp. 4095-4102 ◽  
Author(s):  
C Grépin ◽  
L Robitaille ◽  
T Antakly ◽  
M Nemer
Keyword(s):  
Transcription Factor ◽  
Cardiac Muscle ◽  
Heart Development ◽  
Muscle Cells ◽  
Cardiac Differentiation ◽  
Marker Genes ◽  
Early Event ◽  
Heart Tube ◽  
Cardiac Muscle Cells ◽  
Cardiac Lineage

Commitment of mesodermal cells to the cardiac lineage is a very early event that occurs during gastrulation, and differentiation of cardiac muscle cells begins in the presomite stage prior to formation of the beating heart tube. However, the molecular events, including gene products that are required for differentiation of cardiac muscle cells, remain essentially unknown. GATA-4 is a recently characterized cardiac muscle-restricted transcription factor whose properties suggest an important regulatory role in heart development. We tested the role of GATA-4 in cardiac differentiation, using the pluripotent P19 embryonal carcinoma cells, which can be differentiated into beating cardiac muscle cells. In this system, GATA-4 transcripts and protein are restricted to cells committed to the cardiac lineage, and induction of GATA-4 precedes expression of cardiac marker genes and appearance of beating cells. Inhibition of GATA-4 expression by antisense transcripts blocks development of beating cardiac muscle cells and interferes with expression of cardiac muscle markers. These data indicate that GATA-4 is necessary for development of cardiac muscle cells and identify for the first time a tissue-specific transcription factor that may be crucial for early steps of mammalian cardiogenesis.

scholarly journals Dissecting the Complexity of Early Heart Progenitor Cells

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 5
Author(s):  
Miquel Sendra ◽  
Jorge Domínguez ◽  
Miguel Torres ◽  
Oscar Ocaña
Keyword(s):  
Progenitor Cells ◽  
Heart Development ◽  
Functional Role ◽  
Cardiac Development ◽  
Heart Defects ◽  
Heart Tube ◽  
Cell Sources ◽  
Key Aspects ◽  
Functional Analyses ◽  
Lineage Diversification

Early heart development depends on the coordinated participation of heterogeneous cellsources. As pioneer work from Adriana C. Gittenberger-de Groot demonstrated, characterizing thesedistinct cell sources helps us to understand congenital heart defects. Despite decades of researchon the segregation of lineages that form the primitive heart tube, we are far from understanding itsfull complexity. Currently, single-cell approaches are providing an unprecedented level of detail oncellular heterogeneity, offering new opportunities to decipher its functional role. In this review, wewill focus on three key aspects of early heart morphogenesis: First, the segregation of myocardial andendocardial lineages, which yields an early lineage diversification in cardiac development; second,the signaling cues driving differentiation in these progenitor cells; and third, the transcriptionalheterogeneity of cardiomyocyte progenitors of the primitive heart tube. Finally, we discuss howsingle-cell transcriptomics and epigenomics, together with live imaging and functional analyses, willlikely transform the way we delve into the complexity of cardiac development and its links withcongenital defects.

scholarly journals Building and Repairing the Heart: What Can We Learn from Embryonic Development?

2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana G. Freire ◽  
Tatiana P. Resende ◽  
Perpétua Pinto-do-Ó
Keyword(s):  
Heart Development ◽  
Cardiac Development ◽  
Embryonic Stem ◽  
Cardiac Pathophysiology ◽  
Distinct Cell ◽  
Cell Sources ◽  
Cardiac Lineage ◽  
Heart Formation ◽  
Tissue Recovery

Mammalian heart formation is a complex morphogenetic event that depends on the correct temporal and spatial contribution of distinct cell sources. During cardiac formation, cellular specification, differentiation, and rearrangement are tightly regulated by an intricate signaling network. Over the last years, many aspects of this network have been uncovered not only due to advances in cardiac development comprehension but also due to the use of embryonic stem cells (ESCs)in vitromodel system. Additionally, several of these pathways have been shown to be functional or reactivated in the setting of cardiac disease. Knowledge withdrawn from studying heart development, ESCs differentiation, and cardiac pathophysiology may be helpful to envisage new strategies for improved cardiac repair/regeneration. In this review, we provide a comparative synopsis of the major signaling pathways required for cardiac lineage commitment in the embryo and murine ESCs. The involvement and possible reactivation of these pathways following heart injury and their role in tissue recovery will also be discussed.

Control of early cardiac-specific transcription of Nkx2-5 by a GATA-dependent enhancer

Development ◽  
1999 ◽  
Vol 126 (1) ◽  
pp. 75-84 ◽  
Author(s):  
C.L. Lien ◽  
C. Wu ◽  
B. Mercer ◽  
R. Webb ◽  
J.A. Richardson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Homeobox Gene ◽  
Regulatory Elements ◽  
Upstream Region ◽  
Transcriptional Networks ◽  
Heart Tube ◽  
Enhancer Activity ◽  
Endogenous Gene ◽  
Developing Heart ◽  
High Affinity Binding Site ◽  
Cardiac Lineage

The homeobox gene Nkx2-5 is the earliest known marker of the cardiac lineage in vertebrate embryos. Nkx2-5 expression is first detected in mesodermal cells specified to form heart at embryonic day 7.5 in the mouse and expression is maintained throughout the developing and adult heart. In addition to the heart, Nkx2-5 is transiently expressed in the developing pharynx, thyroid and stomach. To investigate the mechanisms that initiate cardiac transcription during embryogenesis, we analyzed the Nkx2-5 upstream region for regulatory elements sufficient to direct expression of a lacZ transgene in the developing heart of transgenic mice. We describe a cardiac enhancer, located about 9 kilobases upstream of the Nkx2-5 gene, that fully recapitulates the expression pattern of the endogenous gene in cardiogenic precursor cells from the onset of cardiac lineage specification and throughout the linear and looping heart tube. Thereafter, as the atrial and ventricular chambers become demarcated, enhancer activity becomes restricted to the developing right ventricle. Transcription of Nkx2-5 in pharynx, thyroid and stomach is controlled by regulatory elements separable from the cardiac enhancer. This distal cardiac enhancer contains a high-affinity binding site for the cardiac-restricted zinc finger transcription factor GATA4 that is essential for transcriptional activity. These results reveal a novel GATA-dependent mechanism for activation of Nkx2-5 transcription in the developing heart and indicate that regulation of Nkx2-5 is controlled in a modular manner, with multiple regulatory regions responding to distinct transcriptional networks in different compartments of the developing heart.

The quintessence of the making of the heart

2003 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 175-183 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adriana C. Gittenberger-de Groot
Keyword(s):  
Neural Crest ◽  
Heart Development ◽  
Basic Science ◽  
Body Wall ◽  
Cardiac Development ◽  
Vascular System ◽  
Conduction System ◽  
Cardiac Insufficiency ◽  
Heart Tube

In my Mannheimer lecture, designed to meet the needs of a mainly clinical audience, I present aspects of cardiac development that link basic science to clinically relevant problems. During development of the cardiac tube, and its subsequent changes as a dextrally looped structure, which is still connected to the dorsal body wall by a venous and an arterial pole, there are basic requirements. These consist of the development of myocardium, endocardium and the interposed cardiac jelly from the cardiogenic plates. In this primitive heart tube, septation and valvar formation then take place to convert it into a four-chambered heart. I demonstrate that the refining of the above events cannot take place without the addition of extracardiac populations of cells. These are presented as the “quintessence of heart development”, and consist of cells derived from the neural crest, along with epicardially derived cells. Without these contributions, the embryos uniformly die of cardiac insufficiency. Important contributions are made by the cells derived from the neural crest to septation and the formation of the arterial valves, and possibly in differentiation of the central conduction system. The epicardially derived cells are essential for formation of the interstitial fibroblasts and the myocardium, as well as the coronary vascular system. I conclude by discussing specific malformations of the heart that might be linked to these extracardiac contributions.

scholarly journals Origin, Fate, and Function of Epicardium-Derived Cells (EPDCs) in Normal and Abnormal Cardiac Development

2007 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. 1777-1798 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heleen Lie-Venema ◽  
Nynke M. S. van den Akker ◽  
Noortje A. M. Bax ◽  
Elizabeth M. Winter ◽  
Saskia Maas ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Heart Development ◽  
Cardiac Development ◽  
Clinical Importance ◽  
Fiber Formation ◽  
Developmental Defect ◽  
Heart Tube ◽  
Atrioventricular Cushions ◽  
Mesenchymal Transformation ◽  
And Function ◽  
Myocardial Architecture

During heart development, cells of the primary and secondary heart field give rise to the myocardial component of the heart. The neural crest and epicardium provide the heart with a considerable amount of nonmyocardial cells that are indispensable for correct heart development. During the past 2 decades, the importance of epicardium-derived cells (EPDCs) in heart formation became increasingly clear. The epicardium is embryologically formed by the outgrowth of proepicardial cells over the naked heart tube. Following epithelial-mesenchymal transformation, EPDCs form the subepicardial mesenchyme and subsequently migrate into the myocardium, and differentiate into smooth muscle cells and fibroblasts. They contribute to the media of the coronary arteries, to the atrioventricular valves, and the fibrous heart skeleton. Furthermore, they are important for the myocardial architecture of the ventricular walls and for the induction of Purkinje fiber formation.Whereas the exact signaling cascades in EPDC migration and function still need to be elucidated, recent research has revealed several factors that are involved in EPDC migration and specialization, and in the cross-talk between EPDCs and other cells during heart development. Among these factors are the Ets transcription factors Ets-1 and Ets-2. New data obtained with lentiviral antisense constructs targeting Ets-1 and Ets-2 specifically in the epicardium indicate that both factors are independently involved in the migratory behavior of EPDCs. Ets-2 seems to be especially important for the migration of EPDCs into the myocardial wall, and to subendocardial positions in the atrioventricular cushions and the trabeculae.With respect to the clinical importance of correct EPDC development, the relation with coronary arteriogenesis has been noted well before. In this review, we also propose a role for EPDCs in cardiac looping, and emphasize their contribution to the development of the valves and myocardial architecture. Lastly, we focus on the congenital heart anomalies that might be caused primarily by an epicardial developmental defect.

scholarly journals Construction and Establishment of a New Environmental Chamber to Study Real-Time Cardiac Development

2007 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 204-210 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gülay Orhan ◽  
Stephan Baron ◽  
Kambiz Norozi ◽  
Jörg Männer ◽  
Oliver Hornung ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Real Time ◽  
Heart Development ◽  
Limb Development ◽  
Cardiac Development ◽  
Time Window ◽  
Time Lapse ◽  
Cardiac Looping ◽  
Developing Heart ◽  
Stable Conditions ◽  
Video Microscope

Heart development, especially the critical phase of cardiac looping, is a complex and intricate process that has not yet been visualized “live” over long periods of time. We have constructed and established a new environmental incubator chamber that provides stable conditions for embryonic development with regard to temperature, humidity, and oxygen levels. We have integrated a video microscope in the chamber to visualize the developing heart in real time and present the first “live” recordings of a chick embryo in shell-less culture acquired over a period of 2 days. The time-lapse images we show depict a significant time window that covers the most critical and typical morphogenetic events during normal cardiac looping. Our system is of interest to researchers in the field of embryogenesis, as it can be adapted to a variety of animal models for organogenesis studies including heart and limb development.

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