title: Myocardial lineage development.
abstract: The myocardium of the heart is composed of multiple highly specialized myocardial lineages, including those of the ventricular and atrial myocardium, and the specialized conduction system. Specification and maturation of each of these lineages during heart development is a highly ordered, ongoing process involving multiple signaling pathways and their intersection with transcriptional regulatory networks. Here, we attempt to summarize and compare much of what we know about specification and maturation of myocardial lineages from studies in several different vertebrate model systems. To date, most research has focused on early specification, and although there is still more to learn about early specification, less is known about factors that promote subsequent maturation of myocardial lineages required to build the functioning adult heart.
authors.affiliation: Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Department of Medicine, University of California San Diego, 9500 Gilman Dr, La Jolla CA 92093, USA. syevans@ucsd.edu
authors.forename: Sylvia M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Evans
authors.forename: Deborah
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Yelon
authors.forename: Frank L
authors.initials: FL
authors.lastname: Conlon
authors.forename: Margaret L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Kirby
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D019070:Cell Lineage; D006321:Heart / Q000254:growth & development; D006801:Humans; D009206:Myocardium / Q000166:cytology*; D032383:Myocytes, Cardiac / Q000166:cytology*