title: The formation and function of the cardiac conduction system.
abstract: The cardiac conduction system (CCS) consists of distinctive components that initiate and conduct the electrical impulse required for the coordinated contraction of the cardiac chambers. CCS development involves complex regulatory networks that act in stage-, tissue- and dose-dependent manners, and recent findings indicate that the activity of these networks is sensitive to common genetic variants associated with cardiac arrhythmias. Here, we review how these findings have provided novel insights into the regulatory mechanisms and transcriptional networks underlying CCS formation and function.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, Embryology & Physiology, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam 1105 AZ, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Jan Hendrik
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: van Weerd
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, Embryology & Physiology, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam 1105 AZ, The Netherlands v.m.christoffels@amc.uva.nl.
authors.forename: Vincent M
authors.initials: VM
authors.lastname: Christoffels
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D053263:Gene Regulatory Networks / Q000235:genetics; D006321:Heart / Q000502:physiology; D006329:Heart Conduction System / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans
keywords: Cardiac conduction system; Cardiac development; Gene regulation; Transcriptional network