Fetal Mammalian Heart Generates a Robust Compensatory Response to Cell Loss.

Background: Heart development is tightly regulated by signaling events acting on a defined number of progenitor and differentiated cardiac cells. Although loss of function of these signaling pathways leads to congenital malformation, the consequences of cardiac progenitor cell or embryonic cardiomyocyte loss are less clear. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that embryonic mouse hearts exhibit a robust mechanism for regeneration after extensive cell loss.

Insulin-like growth factor promotes cardiac lineage induction in vitro by selective expansion of early mesoderm.

A thorough understanding of the developmental signals that direct pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) toward a cardiac fate is essential for translational applications in disease modeling and therapy. We screened a panel of 44 cytokines/signaling molecules for their ability to enhance Nkx2.5(+) cardiac progenitor cell (CPC) formation during in vitro embryonic stem cell (ESC) differentiation.

Essential and unexpected role of Yin Yang 1 to promote mesodermal cardiac differentiation.

Rationale: Cardiogenesis is regulated by a complex interplay between transcription factors. However, little is known about how these interactions regulate the transition from mesodermal precursors to cardiac progenitor cells (CPCs).

Objective: To identify novel regulators of mesodermal cardiac lineage commitment.