Combinatorial signaling in the heart orchestrates cardiac induction, lineage specification and chamber formation.
The complexity of mammalian cardiogenesis is compounded, as the heart must function in the embryo whilst it is still being formed. Great advances have been made recently as additional cardiac progenitor cell populations have been identified. The induction and maintenance of these progenitors, and their deployment to the developing heart relies on combinatorial molecular signalling, a feature also of cardiac chamber formation. Many forms of congenital heart disease in humans are likely to arise from defects in the early stages of heart development; therefore it is important to understand the molecular pathways that underlie some of the key events that shape the heart during the early stages of it development.
Dunwoodie
Sally L
SL
Developmental Biology Program, Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute, 384 Victoria Street, Darlinghurst, NSW, Australia. s.dunwoodie@victorchang.unsw.edu.au
D000818:Animals; D019070:Cell Lineage; D002465:Cell Movement; D004627:Embryonic Induction; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D006321:Heart / Q000196:embryology*; D006801:Humans; D008954:Models, Biological; D009024:Morphogenesis / Q000235:genetics; D032383:Myocytes, Cardiac / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000502:physiology*; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
D014157:Transcription Factors