FGFR-1 is required by epicardium-derived cells for myocardial invasion and correct coronary vascular lineage differentiation.

ABSTRACT: Critical steps in coronary vascular formation include the epithelial-mesenchyme transition (EMT) that epicardial cells undergo to become sub-epicardial; the invasion of the myocardium; and the differentiation of coronary lineages. However, the factors controlling these processes are not completely understood. Epicardial and coronary vascular precursors migrate to the avascular heart tube during embryogenesis via the proepicardium (PE). Here, we show that in the quail embryo fibroblast growth factor receptor (FGFR)-1 is expressed in a spatially and temporally restricted manner in the PE and epicardium-derived cells, including vascular endothelial precursors, and is up-regulated in epicardial cells after EMT. We used replication-defective retroviral vectors to over-express or knock-down FGFR

SUBMITTER: Pennisi DJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2724599 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature