Chibby, an antagonist of the Wnt/beta-catenin pathway, facilitates cardiomyocyte differentiation of murine embryonic stem cells.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Embryonic stem cell (ESC)-derived cardiomyocytes are anticipated to serve as a useful source for future cell-based cardiovascular disease therapies. Research emphasis is currently focused on determining methods to direct the differentiation of ESCs to a large population of cardiomyocytes with high purity. To this aim, understanding the molecular mechanisms that control ESC-to-cardiomyocyte differentiation should play a critical role in the development of this methodology. The Wnt/beta-catenin signaling pathway has been implicated in both embryonic cardiac development and in vitro ESC differentiation into cardiomyocytes. Chibby is a recently identified nuclear protein that directly binds to beta-catenin and antagonizes its transcriptional activity.

Methods and results<

SUBMITTER: Singh AM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2565513 | biostudies-literature | 2007 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature