Initial deployment of the cardiogenic gene regulatory network in the basal chordate, Ciona intestinalis.

ABSTRACT: The complex, partially redundant gene regulatory architecture underlying vertebrate heart formation has been difficult to characterize. Here, we dissect the primary cardiac gene regulatory network in the invertebrate chordate, Ciona intestinalis. The Ciona heart progenitor lineage is first specified by Fibroblast Growth Factor/Map Kinase (FGF/MapK) activation of the transcription factor Ets1/2 (Ets). Through microarray analysis of sorted heart progenitor cells, we identified the complete set of primary genes upregulated by FGF/Ets shortly after heart progenitor emergence. Combinatorial sequence analysis of these co-regulated genes generated a hypothetical regulatory code consisting of Ets binding sites associated with a specific co-motif, ATTA. Through extensive reporter analysis, we confi

SUBMITTER: Woznica A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3383925 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature