title: Altered Hemodynamics in the Embryonic Heart Affects Outflow Valve Development.
abstract: Cardiac valve structure and function are primarily determined during early development. Consequently, abnormally-formed heart valves are the most common type of congenital heart defects. Several adult valve diseases can be backtracked to abnormal valve development, making it imperative to completely understand the process and regulation of heart valve development. Epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) plays an important role in the development of heart valves. Though hemodynamics is vital to valve development, its role in regulating EMT is still unknown. In this study, intracardiac hemodynamics were altered by constricting the outflow tract (OFT)/ventricle junction (OVJ) of HH16-17 (Hamilton and Hamburger (HH) Stage 16-17) chicken embryos,ex ovofor 24 h. The constriction created an increase in peak and time-averaged centerline velocity along the OFT without changes to volumetric flow or heart rate. Computational fluid dynamics was used to estimate the level of increased spatially-averaged wall shear stresses on the OFT cushion from AMIRA reconstructions. OFT constriction led to a significant decrease in OFT cushion volume and the number of invaded mesenchyme in the OFT cushion. qPCR analysis revealed altered mRNA expression of a representative panel of genes, vital to valve development, in the OFT cushions from banded hearts. This study indicates the importance of hemodynamics in valve development.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy, School of Medicine, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29209, USA.
authors.forename: Vinal
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Menon
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy, School of Medicine, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29209, USA; Biomedical Engineering Program, College of Engineering and Computing, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208, USA.
authors.forename: John F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Eberth
authors.affiliation: Biomedical Sciences, School of Medicine, University of South Carolina, Greenville, SC 29605, USA.
authors.forename: Richard L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Goodwin
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy, School of Medicine, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29209, USA; Biomedical Engineering Program, College of Engineering and Computing, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208, USA.
authors.forename: Jay D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Potts
keywords: EMT; cardiac valve development; endocardial cushions; hemodynamics; valvular disease