title: The roles of Mesp family proteins: functional diversity and redundancy in differentiation of pluripotent stem cells and mammalian mesodermal development.
abstract: Mesp family proteins comprise two members named mesodermal posterior 1 (Mesp1) and mesodermal posterior 2 (Mesp2). Both Mesp1 and Mesp2 are transcription factors and they share an almost identical basic helix-loop-helix motif. They have been shown to play critical regulating roles in mammalian heart and somite development. Mesp1 sits in the core of the complicated regulatory network for generation of cardiovascular progenitors while Mesp2 is central for somitogenesis. Here we summarize the similarities and differences in their molecular functions during mammalian early mesodermal development and discuss possible future research directions for further study of the functions of Mesp1 and Mesp2. A comprehensive knowledge of molecular functions of Mesp family proteins will eventually help us better understand mammalian heart development and somitogenesis as well as improve the production of specific cell types from pluripotent stem cells for future regenerative therapies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology and Pathophysiology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Research Center on Aging and Medicine, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200032 China.
authors.forename: Qianqian
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology and Pathophysiology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Research Center on Aging and Medicine, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200032 China.
authors.forename: Chen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology and Pathophysiology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Research Center on Aging and Medicine, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200032 China.
authors.forename: Xinyun
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology and Pathophysiology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Research Center on Aging and Medicine, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200032 China.
authors.forename: Xiuya
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology and Pathophysiology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Research Center on Aging and Medicine, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200032 China.
authors.forename: Chao
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology and Pathophysiology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Research Center on Aging and Medicine, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200032 China.
authors.forename: Ping
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology and Pathophysiology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Research Center on Aging and Medicine, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200032 China.
authors.forename: Lianhua
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Yin
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology and Pathophysiology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Research Center on Aging and Medicine, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200032 China.
authors.forename: Ruizhe
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Qian
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology and Pathophysiology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Research Center on Aging and Medicine, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200032 China.
authors.forename: Sifeng
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, The Branch of Shanghai No. 1 Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Shanghai, 200081 China.
authors.forename: Zhendong
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Ling
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology and Pathophysiology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Research Center on Aging and Medicine, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200032 China.
authors.forename: Ning
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Sun
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D051792:Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000235:genetics*; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D008648:Mesoderm / Q000196:embryology / Q000378:metabolism*; D018345:Mice, Knockout; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D039904:Pluripotent Stem Cells / Q000378:metabolism*; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
chemical_list: D051792:Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Proteins; C101538:Mesp1 protein, mouse; C107407:Mesp2 protein, mouse