scholarly journals Embryonic organoids recapitulate early heart organogenesis

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giuliana Rossi ◽  
Andrea Boni ◽  
Romain Guiet ◽  
Mehmet Girgin ◽  
Robert G. Kelly ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Heart Development ◽  
Cardiac Tissue ◽  
Embryonic Stem ◽  
Coordinated Development ◽  
Cardiac Progenitors ◽  
Tissue Interactions ◽  
Heart Field ◽  
Morphogenetic Potential ◽  
Key Aspects

AbstractOrganoids are powerful models for studying tissue development, physiology, and disease. However, current culture systems disrupt the inductive tissue-tissue interactions needed for the complex morphogenetic processes of native organogenesis. Here we show that mouse embryonic stem cells (mESCs) can be coaxed to robustly undergo the fundamental steps of early heart organogenesis with an in vivo-like spatiotemporal fidelity. These axially patterned embryonic organoids support the generation of cardiovascular progenitors, as well as first and second heart field compartments. The cardiac progenitors self-organize into an anterior domain reminiscent of a cardiac crescent before forming a beating cardiac tissue near a putative primitive gut-like tube, from which it is separated by an endocardial-like layer. These findings unveil the surprising morphogenetic potential of mESCs to execute key aspects of organogenesis through the coordinated development of multiple tissues. This platform could be an excellent tool for studying heart development in unprecedented detail and throughput.

Abstract 16013: Direct Nkx2-5 Transcriptional Repression of Isl1 Controls Cardiomyocyte Subtype Identity

Circulation ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 130 (suppl_2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Goedel ◽  
Tatjana Dorn ◽  
Jason T Lam ◽  
Franziska Herrmann ◽  
Jessica Haas ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Heart Development ◽  
Transcriptional Repression ◽  
Embryonic Stem ◽  
Cardiac Differentiation ◽  
Heart Tube ◽  
Cardiac Progenitors ◽  
Gene Enhancer ◽  
Heart Field ◽  
Homeobox Protein ◽  
Islet 1

During heart development the second heart field (SHF) provides progenitor cells for most cardiomyocytes and expresses the LIM-homeodomain transcription factor Islet-1 (Isl1) and the homeobox protein Nkx2-5. Here, we show that a direct repression of Isl1 transcription by Nkx2-5 is necessary for proper specification and maturation of ventricular and atrial chamber-specific myocardial lineages. Overexpression of Nkx2-5 in mouse embryonic stem cells (ESCs) delayed specification of cardiac progenitors and inhibited expression of Isl1 and its downstream targets in the Isl1+ precursor population. These effects were partially rescued by Isl1 overexpression. Embryos deficient for Nkx2-5 in the Isl1+ lineage failed to downregulate Isl1 protein in cardiomyocytes of the heart tube (Figure 1A). We demonstrated that Nkx2-5 directly binds to an Isl1 gene enhancer and represses the transcriptional activity of Isl1. Furthermore, we showed that overexpression of Isl1 does not prevent cardiac differentiation of ESCs and in Xenopus laevis embryos. Instead, Isl1 overexpression in ESCs leads to enhanced specification of cardiac progenitors, earlier cardiac differentiation, and increased number of cardiomyocytes (Figure 1B). Functional and molecular analysis of Isl1-overexpressing cardiomyocytes revealed higher beating frequencies in both ESC-derived contracting areas and Xenopus Isl1-gain-of-function hearts (Figure 1C), which was associated with upregulation of nodal-specific genes and downregulation of transcripts of working myocardium. Our findings provide an Isl1/Nkx2-5-mediated mechanism that coordinately regulates the specification of cardiac progenitors towards the different myocardial lineages and ensures proper acquisition of myocyte subtype-identity (Figure 1D).

Abstract 290: Haemogenic Endocardium Contribute To Definitive Hematopoiesis During Cardiogenesis

2013 ◽  
Vol 113 (suppl_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Haruko Nakano ◽  
Xiaoqian Liu ◽  
Armin Arshi ◽  
Ben van Handel ◽  
Rajkumar Sasidharan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
De Novo ◽  
Ex Vivo ◽  
Embryonic Stem ◽  
Circulatory System ◽  
Lineage Tracing ◽  
Mouse Heart ◽  
Heart Tube ◽  
Cardiac Progenitors ◽  
Definitive Hematopoiesis

The circulatory system is the first functional organ system that develops during mammalian life. Accumulating evidences suggest that cardiac and endocardial cells can arise from a single common progenitor cell during mammalian cardiogenesis. Notably, these early cardiac progenitors express multiple hematopoietic transcription factors, consistent with previous reports. Indeed, a close relationship among cardiac, endocardial and hematopoietic lineages has been suggested in fly, zebrafish, and embryonic stem cell in vitro differentiation models. However, it is unclear when, where and how this hematopoietic gene program is in operation during in vivo mammalian cardiogenesis. Hematopoietic colony assay suggests that mouse heart explants generate myeloids and erythroids in the absence of circulation, suggesting that the heart tube is a de novo site for the definitive hematopoiesis. Lineage tracing revealed that putative cardiac-derived Nkx2-5+/Isl1+ endocardial cells give rise to CD41+ hematopoietic progenitors that contribute to definitive hematopoiesis in vivo and ex vivo during embryogenesis earlier than in the AGM region. Furthermore, Nkx2-5 and Isl1 are both required for the hemogenic activity of the endocardium. Together, identification of Nkx2-5/Isl1-dependent hemogenic endocardial cells (1) adds hematopoietic component in the cardiogenesis lineage tree, (2) changes the long-held dogma that AGM is the only major source of definitive hematopoiesis in the embryo proper, and (3) represents phylogenetically conserved fundamental mechanism of cardio-vasculo-hematopoietic differentiation pathway during the development of circulatory system.

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.

scholarly journals Ventricular, atrial and outflow tract heart progenitors arise from spatially and molecularly distinct regions of the primitive streak

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenzo Ivanovitch ◽  
Pablo Soro-Barrio ◽  
Probir Chakravarty ◽  
Rebecca A Jones ◽  
S. Neda Mousavy Gharavy ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Single Cell ◽  
Heart Development ◽  
Primitive Streak ◽  
Outflow Tract ◽  
Lineage Tracing ◽  
Molecular Signature ◽  
Genetic Lineage ◽  
Cardiac Progenitors ◽  
Heart Field ◽  
Genetic Lineage Tracing

AbstractThe heart develops from two sources of mesoderm progenitors, the first and second heart field (FHF and SHF). Using a single cell transcriptomic assay in combination with genetic lineage tracing, we find the FHF and SHF are subdivided into distinct pools of progenitors in gastrulating mouse embryos at earlier stages than previously thought. Each subpopulation has a distinct origin in the primitive streak. The first progenitors to leave the primitive streak contribute to the left ventricle, shortly after right ventricle progenitor emigrate, followed by the outflow tract and atrial progenitors. Although cells allocated to the outflow tract and atrium leave the primitive streak at a similar stage, they arise from different regions. Outflow tract originate from distal locations in the primitive streak while atrial progenitors are positioned more proximally. Moreover, single cell RNA sequencing demonstrates that the primitive streak cells contributing to the ventricles have a distinct molecular signature from those forming the outflow tract and atrium. We conclude that cardiac progenitors are pre-patterned within the primitive streak and this prefigures their allocation to distinct anatomical structures of the heart. Together, our data provide a new molecular and spatial map of mammalian cardiac progenitors that will support future studies of heart development, function and disease.

scholarly journals Ventricular, atrial, and outflow tract heart progenitors arise from spatially and molecularly distinct regions of the primitive streak

PLoS Biology ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (5) ◽  
pp. e3001200
Author(s):  
Kenzo Ivanovitch ◽  
Pablo Soro-Barrio ◽  
Probir Chakravarty ◽  
Rebecca A. Jones ◽  
Donald M. Bell ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Single Cell ◽  
Heart Development ◽  
Primitive Streak ◽  
Outflow Tract ◽  
Lineage Tracing ◽  
Molecular Signature ◽  
Genetic Lineage ◽  
Cardiac Progenitors ◽  
Heart Field ◽  
Genetic Lineage Tracing

The heart develops from 2 sources of mesoderm progenitors, the first and second heart field (FHF and SHF). Using a single-cell transcriptomic assay combined with genetic lineage tracing and live imaging, we find the FHF and SHF are subdivided into distinct pools of progenitors in gastrulating mouse embryos at earlier stages than previously thought. Each subpopulation has a distinct origin in the primitive streak. The first progenitors to leave the primitive streak contribute to the left ventricle, shortly after right ventricle progenitor emigrate, followed by the outflow tract and atrial progenitors. Moreover, a subset of atrial progenitors are gradually incorporated in posterior locations of the FHF. Although cells allocated to the outflow tract and atrium leave the primitive streak at a similar stage, they arise from different regions. Outflow tract cells originate from distal locations in the primitive streak while atrial progenitors are positioned more proximally. Moreover, single-cell RNA sequencing demonstrates that the primitive streak cells contributing to the ventricles have a distinct molecular signature from those forming the outflow tract and atrium. We conclude that cardiac progenitors are prepatterned within the primitive streak and this prefigures their allocation to distinct anatomical structures of the heart. Together, our data provide a new molecular and spatial map of mammalian cardiac progenitors that will support future studies of heart development, function, and disease.

Abstract 78: Pnmt+ "Primer" Cells Give Rise to Cardiac Myocytes and Neurons in the Mammalian Heart: Development of New Experimental Tools for Cardiac Regenerative Medicine Applications

2012 ◽  
Vol 111 (suppl_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Namita M Varudkar ◽  
Jixiang Xia ◽  
Ibrahim Abukenda ◽  
Karl Pfeifer ◽  
Steven Ebert
Keyword(s):  
Stem Cell ◽  
Regenerative Medicine ◽  
Neural Crest ◽  
Heart Development ◽  
Embryonic Stem ◽  
Mouse Embryonic Stem Cell ◽  
Stem Cell Differentiation ◽  
Left Ventricular

Phenylethanolamine n-methyltransferase (Pnmt) catalyzes the conversion of norepinephrine to epinephrine, and thus serves as a marker for adrenergic cells. We employed a combination of immunofluorescent histochemical staining and genetic fate-mapping strategies to show that two separate Pnmt+ cell populations contribute to heart development. Intrinsic cardiac adrenergic (ICA) cells originate from the primary heart field, and contribute to pacemaking, conduction, and working (contractile) myocardium. A second population of cardiac Pnmt+ cells is derived from migrating neural crest. These neural crest adrenergic (NCA) cells appear to contribute to cardiac neurons. By adulthood, most of the Pnmt+ cells show a distinctively left-sided orientation in the heart, with nearly 90% of them being found in the left atrium and ventricle. Surprisingly large swaths of ventricular muscle are derived from Pnmt+ primer cells. Since this region of the heart is highly vulnerable to coronary artery disease and often sustains varying degrees of damage following myocardial infarction, we hypothesize that directed stem cell differentiation into Pnmt+ primer cells could serve as a valuable resource for repair and/or regeneration of left ventricular myocardium for heart disease patients. To test this hypothesis, we have generated stable recombinant mouse embryonic stem cell (mESC) lines that express various fluorescent marker proteins under the control of the endogenous Pnmt gene regulatory network. These cells can be rapidly expanded in culture, sorted, and used for transplantation studies in animal models to determine their therapeutic effectiveness. The cells can be induced along cardiogenic or neurogenic pathways in vitro, and the resulting Pnmt+ cells from each population can then be collected and tested in vivo. To achieve this goal, we have knocked-in a nuclear-localized enhanced green fluorescent protein into the Pnmt locus to create Pnmt-nEGFP recombinant mESCs and mice. We show that nEGFP expression is specifically expressed in Pnmt+ cells in vitro and in vivo. This strategy allows us to identify and isolate Pnmt+ cells to evaluate their effectiveness for cardiac regenerative medicine applications. .

scholarly journals Endothelin-1 supports clonal derivation and expansion of cardiovascular progenitors derived from human embryonic stem cells

2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Boon-Seng Soh ◽  
Shi-Yan Ng ◽  
Hao Wu ◽  
Kristina Buac ◽  
Joo-Hye C. Park ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Smooth Muscle ◽  
Cell Fate ◽  
Embryonic Stem ◽  
Circulatory System ◽  
Cardiac Progenitors ◽  
Cardiac Tissues ◽  
Endothelin 1 ◽  
Key Factor

Abstract Coronary arteriogenesis is a central step in cardiogenesis, requiring coordinated generation and integration of endothelial cell and vascular smooth muscle cells. At present, it is unclear whether the cell fate programme of cardiac progenitors to generate complex muscular or vascular structures is entirely cell autonomous. Here we demonstrate the intrinsic ability of vascular progenitors to develop and self-organize into cardiac tissues by clonally isolating and expanding second heart field cardiovascular progenitors using WNT3A and endothelin-1 (EDN1) human recombinant proteins. Progenitor clones undergo long-term expansion and differentiate primarily into endothelial and smooth muscle cell lineages in vitro, and contribute extensively to coronary-like vessels in vivo, forming a functional human–mouse chimeric circulatory system. Our study identifies EDN1 as a key factor towards the generation and clonal derivation of ISL1+ vascular intermediates, and demonstrates the intrinsic cell-autonomous nature of these progenitors to differentiate and self-organize into functional vasculatures in vivo.

scholarly journals Hedgehog signaling activates a heterochronic gene regulatory network to control differentiation timing across lineages

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Megan Rowton ◽  
Carlos Perez-Cervantes ◽  
Ariel Rydeen ◽  
Suzy Hur ◽  
Jessica Jacobs-Li ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gene Regulatory Network ◽  
Regulatory Network ◽  
Hedgehog Signaling ◽  
Cardiomyocyte Differentiation ◽  
Cardiac Progenitors ◽  
Second Heart Field ◽  
Heart Field ◽  
Gene Regulatory ◽  
Hh Signaling

SUMMARYHeterochrony, defined as differences in the timing of developmental processes, impacts organ development, homeostasis, and regeneration. The molecular basis of heterochrony in mammalian tissues is poorly understood. We report that Hedgehog signaling activates a heterochronic pathway that controls differentiation timing in multiple lineages. A differentiation trajectory from second heart field cardiac progenitors to first heart field cardiomyocytes was identified by single-cell transcriptional profiling in mouse embryos. A survey of developmental signaling pathways revealed specific enrichment for Hedgehog signaling targets in cardiac progenitors. Removal of Hh signaling caused loss of progenitor and precocious cardiomyocyte differentiation gene expression in the second heart field in vivo. Introduction of active Hh signaling to mESC-derived progenitors, modelled by transient expression of the Hh-dependent transcription factor GLI1, delayed differentiation in cardiac and neural lineages in vitro. A shared GLI1-dependent network in both cardiac and neural progenitors was enriched with FOX family transcription factors. FOXF1, a GLI1 target, was sufficient to delay onset of the cardiomyocyte differentiation program in progenitors, by epigenetic repression of cardiomyocyte-specific enhancers. Removal of active Hh signaling or Foxf1 expression from second heart field progenitors caused precocious cardiac differentiation in vivo, establishing a mechanism for resultant Congenital Heart Disease. Together, these studies suggest that Hedgehog signaling directly activates a gene regulatory network that functions as a heterochronic switch to control differentiation timing across developmental lineages.

Abstract 291: In Vitro Matured Human Embryonic Stem Cell-derived Cardiomyocytes Form Grafts With Enhanced Structure and Improved Electromechanical Integration in Injured Hearts

2020 ◽  
Vol 127 (Suppl_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Wahiba Dhahri ◽  
Tamilla Sadikov Valdman ◽  
Beiping Qiang ◽  
Hassan Masoudpour ◽  
Eylul Ceylan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Stem Cell ◽  
Embryonic Stem Cell ◽  
Heart Development ◽  
Human Embryonic Stem Cell ◽  
Ex Vivo ◽  
Embryonic Stem ◽  
Cardiac Contraction ◽  
Structural And Functional Properties

Human embryonic stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes (hESC-CMs) have tremendous promise for application in cardiac repair, but their immature phenotype greatly limits their translational potential. The present study was designed to two hypotheses: 1) that previously reported methods to promote the maturation of hESC-CMs by culture on soft polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) substrates can be upscaled to the quantities required for transplantation studies; and 2) that PDMS-matured hESC-CMs will stably engraft in injured hearts and form graft myocardium with enhanced structural and functional properties. First, we cultured hESC-CMs on either PDMS or tissue culture plastic (TCP) for 20 and 40 days, then phenotyped the resultant populations. All hESC-CMs were engineered to express the fluorescent voltage-sensitive protein ASAP1 to facilitate in vitro and in vivo electrophysiological studies. Relative to their counterparts on TCP, hESC-CMs on PDMS at both time-points exhibited increased cardiac gene expression as well as a more mature structural and electrophysiological phenotype in vitro. Single-cell transcriptomics confirmed enrichment of cardiac maturation markers including gene pathways involved in cardiac contraction, extracellular matrix organization, sarcomerogenesis, and adult heart development in PDMS versus TCP cultures. Next, we transplanted day 20 or 40 TCP vs PDMS ASAP1+ hESC-CMs into injured guinea pig hearts. Recipient hearts were later analyzed by ex vivo optical voltage mapping studies and histology. While CMs from both substrates showed similar capacity for engraftment, grafts formed with PDMS-matured myocytes had more mature structural properties including enhanced alignment, sarcomere lengths and maturation marker expression. Most importantly, graft formed with PDMS-matured myocytes showed improved electrophysiological properties including better host-graft electromechanical integration and more rapid and uniform propagation. We conclude that large quantities of matured hESC-CMs can indeed be economically produced by these methods. Moreover, PDMS-matured myocytes form large intramyocardial grafts with enhanced cardiac structure and electrical function, thereby establishing that maturation prior to transplantation meaningfully improves outcomes in vivo.

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