Review
Control of Cardiac Development by an Evolutionarily Conserved Transcriptional Network

https://doi.org/10.1006/dbio.2002.0666Get rights and content
Under an Elsevier user license
open archive

Abstract

Formation of the heart is dependent on an intricate cascade of developmental decisions. Analysis of the molecules and mechanisms involved in the specification of cardiac cell fates, differentiation and diversification of cardiac muscle cells, and morphogenesis and patterning of different cardiac cell types has revealed an evolutionarily conserved network of signaling pathways and transcription factors that underlies these processes. The regulatory network that controls the formation of the primitive heart in fruit flies has been elaborated upon to form the complex multichambered heart of mammals. We compare and contrast the mechanisms involved in heart formation in fruit flies and mammals in the context of a network of transcriptional interactions and point to unresolved questions for the future.

Keywords

heart
cardiogenesis
dorsal vessel
Drosophila
review
gene network
transcription factor
transcription network

Cited by (0)

1

To whom correspondence should be addressed. Fax: (505) 277-0304. E-mail: [email protected].