Mohun T, Sparrow D
National Institute for Medical Research, Ridgeway, Mill Hill, London, UK.
Curr Opin Genet Dev. 1997 Oct;7(5):628-33. doi: 10.1016/s0959-437x(97)80010-x.
Heart formation provides an excellent model for studying the molecular basis of cell determination in vertebrate embryos. By combining molecular assays with the experimental approaches of classic embryology, a model for the cell signalling events that initiate cardiogenesis is emerging. Studies of chick, amphibian, and fish embryos demonstrate the inductive role of dorso-anterior endoderm in specifying the cardiac fate of adjacent mesoderm. A consequence of this signalling is the onset of cardiomyogenesis and several transcription factors--Nkx2-5-related, HAND, GATA and MEF-2 families--contribute to these events.
