Vincentz et al., 2017, PLoS Genetics.pdf
Joshua Vincentz
Anthony B. Firulli
Wenjun Zhang
10.25376/hra.7808597.v1
https://hra.figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/Vincentz_et_al_2017_PLoS_Genetics_pdf/7808597
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<p>The left ventricle of the heart drives blood flow throughout the body. Impaired left ventricle function, associated either with heart failure or with certain, severe cardiac birth
defects, constitutes a significant cause of mortality. Understanding how heart muscle
grows is vital to developing improved treatments for these diseases. Unfortunately, genetic
tools necessary to study the left ventricle have been lacking. Here we engineer the first
mouse line to enable specific genetic study of the left ventricle. We show that, unlike in
the adult heart, the embryonic left ventricle is remarkably tolerant of cell death, as remaining cells have the capacity to proliferate and to restore heart function. Conversely, disruption of two related genes, Hand1 and Hand2, within the left ventricle causes cells to assume the wrong identity, and to consequently overgrow and impair cardiac function.
Ablation of these mutant cells rescues heart function. We conclude that selective removal
of defective heart muscle and replacement with healthy cells may provide an effective therapy to treat heart failure. </p>
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2019-03-06 15:02:23
Hand1
Hand2
heart development
trabecular cardiomyocytes
cardiomyocyte number
Developmental Biology