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Updated: Jun 16, 2026
09:29
In Vitro Generation of Heart Field-specific Cardiac Progenitor Cells
Published on: July 3, 2019
The sinus venosus progenitors separate and diversify from the first and second heart fields early in development
Mathilda T M Mommersteeg1, Jorge N Domínguez, Cornelia Wiese
1Heart Failure Research Center, Academic Medical Center, Meibergdreef 15, 1105 AZ Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Cardiovascular Research
|January 30, 2010
Summary
Murine heart development involves distinct progenitor populations. Tbx18(+) cells form the sinus venosus, separate from the second heart field, revealing a novel contribution to cardiac development.
Area of Science:
- Cardiovascular Biology
- Developmental Biology
- Stem Cell Biology
Background:
- Heart tube formation relies on Isl1(+) and Nkx2-5(+) progenitors.
- Tbx18(+) progenitors were hypothesized to form the sinus venosus and proepicardium.
- The precise origin and relationship of Tbx18(+) progenitors to the second heart field remain unclear.
Purpose of the Study:
- Investigate the origin of Tbx18(+) sinus venosus progenitors.
- Determine the spatial and temporal relationship between Tbx18(+) progenitors and the second heart field.
- Clarify the contribution of Tbx18(+) progenitors to murine heart development.
Main Methods:
- Explant culture of Tbx18(+) cells.
- Three-dimensional reconstruction of gene expression patterns.
- Genetic lineage tracing using DiI labeling and expression analysis.
Main Results:
- Tbx18(+) cells can form Nkx2-5(-) sinus venosus myocardium.
- Tbx18(+) progenitors are spatially and temporally distinct from the Isl1(+) second heart field.
- Tbx18(+) descendants form sinus venosus myocardium but not pulmonary vein myocardium.
Conclusions:
- The cardiogenic mesoderm contains a distinct progenitor subpopulation for sinus venosus myocardium.
- This Tbx18(+) progenitor population is spatially and genetically separate from the second heart field.
- These findings elucidate a previously unrecognized contribution to heart development.
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