Molecular embryology for an understanding of congenital heart diseases.
Congenital heart diseases (CHD) result from abnormal morphogenesis of the embryonic cardiovascular system and usually involve defects in specific structural components of the developing heart and vessels. Therefore, an understanding of "Molecular Embryology", with specific focus on the individual modular steps involved in cardiovascular morphogenesis, is particularly relevant to those wishing to have a better insight into the origin of CHD. Recent advances in molecular embryology suggest that the cardiovascular system arises from multiple distinct embryonic origins, and a population of myocardial precursor cells in the pharyngeal mesoderm anterior to the early heart tube, denoted the "second heart field", has been identified. Discovery of the second heart field has important implications for the interpretation of cardiac outflow tract development and provides new insights into the morphogenesis of CHD.
Department of Pediatrics, Division of Pediatric Cardiology, Keio University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan. hyamag@sc.itc.keio.ac.jp
Hiroyuki
H
Yamagishi
Jun
J
Maeda
Keiko
K
Uchida
Takatoshi
T
Tsuchihashi
Maki
M
Nakazawa
Megumi
M
Aramaki
Kazuki
K
Kodo
Chihiro
C
Yamagishi
D000818:Animals; D020013:Calcium Signaling; D051858:Forkhead Transcription Factors / Q000378:metabolism; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D006321:Heart / Q000196:embryology*; D006330:Heart Defects, Congenital / Q000209:etiology*; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D009206:Myocardium / Q000378:metabolism; D020825:T-Box Domain Proteins / Q000378:metabolism
D051858:Forkhead Transcription Factors; D020825:T-Box Domain Proteins; C491573:Tbx1 protein, mouse