Disrupted cardiac development but normal hematopoiesis in mice deficient in the second CXCL12/SDF-1 receptor, CXCR7.

ABSTRACT: Chemotactic cytokines (chemokines) attract immune cells, although their original evolutionary role may relate more closely with embryonic development. We noted differential expression of the chemokine receptor CXCR7 (RDC-1) on marginal zone B cells, a cell type associated with autoimmune diseases. We generated Cxcr7(-/-) mice but found that CXCR7 deficiency had little effect on B cell composition. However, most Cxcr7(-/-) mice died at birth with ventricular septal defects and semilunar heart valve malformation. Conditional deletion of Cxcr7 in endothelium, using Tie2-Cre transgenic mice, recapitulated this phenotype. Gene profiling of Cxcr7(-/-) heart valve leaflets revealed a defect in the expression of factors essential for valve formation, vessel protection, or endothelial cell growth a

SUBMITTER: Sierro F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1976222 | biostudies-literature | 2007 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature