Spatiotemporally Controlled Mechanical Cues Drive Progenitor Mesenchymal-to-Epithelial Transition Enabling Proper Heart Formation and Function.

ABSTRACT: During early cardiogenesis, bilateral fields of mesenchymal heart progenitor cells (HPCs) move from the anterior lateral plate mesoderm to the ventral midline, undergoing a mesenchymal-to-epithelial transition (MET) en route to forming a single epithelial sheet. Through tracking of tissue-level deformations in the heart-forming region (HFR) as well as movement trajectories and traction generation of individual HPCs, we find that the onset of MET correlates with a peak in mechanical stress within the HFR and changes in HPC migratory behaviors. Small-molecule inhibitors targeting actomyosin contractility reveal a temporally specific requirement of bulk tissue compliance to regulate heart development and MET. Targeting mutant constructs to modulate contractility and compliance in the underlyi

SUBMITTER: Jackson TR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5497766 | biostudies-literature | 2017 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature