Nodal myosin distribution in the bovine heart during prenatal development: an immunohistochemical study

A novel type of cardiac myosin heavy chain, immunologically related to the myosin isoforms expressed during skeletal muscle development, has recently been described in sinoatrial and atrioventricular nodal fibers of the adult bovine heart (Gorza et al, J Cell Biol 1986; 102:1758-1766). The tissue-specific expression of this myosin type has been utilized in the present study to investigate the differentiation of nodal fibers during cardiac development. In 4-6-week-old bovine embryos, reactivity for nodal myosin was observed in a cluster of cardiac fibers in the sinus venosus wall, corresponding to the sinoatrial node primordium and in a number of fibers localized in the left atrial wall, especially in proximity to vascular orifices, possibly corresponding to the postulated left-sided sinoatrial node. In contrast, reactivity for nodal myosin was not detected in the atrioventricular node until 12 weeks of gestation. Before this stage, fibers reactive for nodal myosin were also seen scattered in the left atrial wall and interatrial septum, raising the possibility that atrioventricular nodal fibers may derive from the left-sided sinoatrial node. Reactivity for nodal myosin was never seen in normal atrial and ventricular myocardium, nor in the ventricular conduction tissue, indicating that nodal myosin does not represent a primordial myosin form, but is rather a specific marker of a distinct muscle cell lineage.