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Development of the Heart

Development of the Heart

The development of the human heart, a crucial organ, commences from the mesoderm on the 18th or 19th day after fertilization. This process initiates in the cardiogenic area, a group of mesodermal cells at the embryo's head end, which evolves into elongated strands known as cardiogenic cords. These cords undergo a transformation to form hollow-centered endocardial tubes.
As the embryo undergoes lateral folding, these paired tubes approach each other, merging into a single primitive heart...

Chambers of the Heart

Chambers of the Heart

The human heart is a complex organ made up of four chambers: the right and left atria and the right and left ventricles. These internal chambers are separated by partitions known as the interatrial and interventricular septa. The exterior of the heart features a groove known as the coronary sulcus that demarcates the atria from the ventricles, while the anterior and posterior interventricular sulci distinguish between the two ventricles.
Deoxygenated blood from the body is received in the right...

Structure of Cardiac Muscles

Structure of Cardiac Muscles

Cardiac muscle, or myocardium, is a specialized type of muscle found exclusively in the heart. Its unique structural and functional characteristics enable the heart to perform its vital role of pumping blood throughout the body continuously and rhythmically. The cardiac muscle cells, or cardiomyocytes, possess an endomysium and perimysium but do not have an epimysium.
Compared to skeletal muscles, cardiac muscle cells are small and mostly have a single nucleus. Additionally, they are usually...

Anatomy of the Heart

Anatomy of the Heart

The human heart is made up of three layers of tissue that are surrounded by the pericardium, a membrane that protects and confines the heart. The outermost layer, closest to the pericardium, is the epicardium. The pericardial cavity separates the pericardium from the epicardium. Beneath the epicardium is the myocardium, the middle layer, and the endocardium, the innermost layer. There are four chambers of the heart: the right atrium, the right ventricle, the left atrium, and the left ventricle.

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jul 1, 2025

Generating Self-Assembling Human Heart Organoids Derived from Pluripotent Stem Cells

Generating Self-Assembling Human Heart Organoids Derived from Pluripotent Stem Cells

Published on: September 15, 2021

Spatially organized cellular communities form the developing human heart.

Elie N Farah¹, Robert K Hu¹, Colin Kern²

¹Department of Medicine, Division of Cardiology, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA.

|March 14, 2024

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Researchers mapped human heart cell development and organization. This reveals how cardiac cell communities form structures crucial for heart function and disease insights.

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Developing 3D Organized Human Cardiac Tissue within a Microfluidic Platform

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Imaging Cleared Embryonic and Postnatal Hearts at Single-cell Resolution

Imaging Cleared Embryonic and Postnatal Hearts at Single-cell Resolution

Published on: October 7, 2016

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Last Updated: Jul 1, 2025

Generating Self-Assembling Human Heart Organoids Derived from Pluripotent Stem Cells

Generating Self-Assembling Human Heart Organoids Derived from Pluripotent Stem Cells

Published on: September 15, 2021

Developing 3D Organized Human Cardiac Tissue within a Microfluidic Platform

Developing 3D Organized Human Cardiac Tissue within a Microfluidic Platform

Published on: June 15, 2021

Imaging Cleared Embryonic and Postnatal Hearts at Single-cell Resolution

Imaging Cleared Embryonic and Postnatal Hearts at Single-cell Resolution

Published on: October 7, 2016

Area of Science:

Developmental Biology
Cardiovascular Research
Single-cell Genomics

Background:

Heart form is critical for function, but spatial coordination of cardiac cell types during development is poorly understood.
Understanding cardiac morphogenesis is key to addressing congenital heart defects and developing regenerative therapies.

Purpose of the Study:

To identify and spatially map cardiac cell types during human heart development.
To elucidate the organization of cardiac cells into functional communities and structures.
To uncover signaling pathways governing cardiac cell spatial organization and specialization.

Main Methods:

Integrated single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) with high-resolution multiplexed error-robust fluorescence in situ hybridization (MERFISH).
Utilized in vivo conditional genetic mouse models and in vitro human pluripotent stem cell systems.
Analyzed cell-cell interactions within identified cardiac cellular communities.

Main Results:

Resolved identity and spatial organization of cardiac cell types in the developing human heart.
Discovered cardiac cell type specialization into subpopulations within specific cellular communities.
Revealed complex laminar organization of ventricular cardiomyocyte subpopulations and identified multicellular signaling pathways orchestrating morphogenesis.

Conclusions:

Detailed mapping of cardiac cell types and their spatial organization provides fundamental insights into human heart development.
Understanding cellular communities and signaling pathways offers new perspectives on structural heart diseases.
Findings support advancements in tissue engineering for human heart repair and regenerative medicine.