title: Molecular regulation of cardiomyocyte differentiation.
abstract: The heart is the first organ to form during embryonic development. Given the complex nature of cardiac differentiation and morphogenesis, it is not surprising that some form of congenital heart disease is present in ≈1 percent of newborns. The molecular determinants of heart development have received much attention over the past several decades. This has been driven in large part by an interest in understanding the causes of congenital heart disease coupled with the potential of using knowledge from developmental biology to generate functional cells and tissues that could be used for regenerative medicine purposes. In this review, we highlight the critical signaling pathways and transcription factor networks that regulate cardiomyocyte lineage specification in both in vivo and in vitro models. Special focus will be given to epigenetic regulators that drive the commitment of cardiomyogenic cells from nascent mesoderm and their differentiation into chamber-specific myocytes, as well as regulation of myocardial trabeculation.
authors.affiliation: From the Division of Pediatric Cardiology and Department of Pediatrics (S.L.P., S.M.W.), Cardiovascular Institute (K.P., A.X., S.M.W.), Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Department of Medicine, Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine Regenerative Medicine, Child Health Research Institute (S.M.W.), Stanford University School of Medicine, CA.
authors.forename: Sharon L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Paige
authors.affiliation: From the Division of Pediatric Cardiology and Department of Pediatrics (S.L.P., S.M.W.), Cardiovascular Institute (K.P., A.X., S.M.W.), Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Department of Medicine, Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine Regenerative Medicine, Child Health Research Institute (S.M.W.), Stanford University School of Medicine, CA.
authors.forename: Karolina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Plonowska
authors.affiliation: From the Division of Pediatric Cardiology and Department of Pediatrics (S.L.P., S.M.W.), Cardiovascular Institute (K.P., A.X., S.M.W.), Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Department of Medicine, Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine Regenerative Medicine, Child Health Research Institute (S.M.W.), Stanford University School of Medicine, CA.
authors.forename: Adele
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: From the Division of Pediatric Cardiology and Department of Pediatrics (S.L.P., S.M.W.), Cardiovascular Institute (K.P., A.X., S.M.W.), Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Department of Medicine, Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine Regenerative Medicine, Child Health Research Institute (S.M.W.), Stanford University School of Medicine, CA. smwu@stanford.edu.
authors.forename: Sean M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Wu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000502:physiology*; D019070:Cell Lineage / Q000502:physiology; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D053263:Gene Regulatory Networks / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008648:Mesoderm / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology; D009206:Myocardium / Q000166:cytology*; D032383:Myocytes, Cardiac / Q000502:physiology*; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000502:physiology
keywords: cell differentiation; embryonic development; epigenomics; myocytes, cardiac; organogenesis; transcription factors