Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 9, 2026

Generation and Expansion of Human Cardiomyocytes from Patient Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells
Published on: February 12, 2021
WT1 regulates the expression of inhibitory chemokines during heart development
Victor Velecela1, Laura A Lettice, You-Ying Chau
1MRC Human Genetics Unit, Institute of Genetics and Molecular Medicine, Edinburgh EH4 2XU, UK.
Abstract:
The embryonic epicardium is an important source of cardiovascular precursor cells and paracrine factors that are required for adequate heart formation. Signaling pathways regulated by WT1 that promote heart development have started to be described; however, there is little information on signaling pathways regulated by WT1 that could act in a negative manner. Transcriptome analysis of Wt1KO epicardial cells reveals an unexpected role for WT1 in repressing the expression of interferon-regulated genes that could be involved in a negative regulation of heart morphogenesis. Here, we showed that WT1 is required to repress the expression of the chemokines Ccl5 and Cxcl10 in epicardial cells. We observed an inverse correlation of Wt1 and the expression of Cxcl10 and Ccl5 during epicardium development. Chemokine receptor analyses of hearts from Wt1(gfp/+) mice demonstrate the differential expression of their chemokine receptors in GFP(+) epicardial enriched cells and GFP(-) cells. Functional assays demonstrate that CXCL10 and CCL5 inhibit epicardial cells migration and the proliferation of cardiomyocytes respectively. WT1 regulates the expression levels of Cxcl10 and Ccl5 in epicardial cells directly and indirectly through increasing the levels of IRF7. As epicardial cell reactivation after a myocardial damage is linked with WT1 expression, the present work has potential implications in adult heart repair.
Related Concept Videos
Canonical Wnt Signaling Pathway
Canonical Wnt Signaling Pathway
Regulation of Angiogenesis and Blood Supply
Non-Canonical Wnt Signaling Pathways
Role Of Notch Signalling In Intestinal Stem Cell Renewal
Direct cell-to-cell contact is needed for the activation of Notch signaling. The signal is initiated when a notch ligand binds to a receptor on an adjacent cell, also...
Regulation of Expression Occurs at Multiple Steps
Transcription results in the generation of precursor (pre-mRNA) that consists of both exons and introns, which needs further processing before being translated to a...

