| First Author | Xu C | Year | 1998 |
| Journal | Dev Biol | Volume | 196 |
| Issue | 2 | Pages | 237-47 |
| PubMed ID | 9576836 | Mgi Jnum | J:47293 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:1203268 | Doi | 10.1006/dbio.1998.8862 |
| Citation | Xu C, et al. (1998) Specific arrest of cardiogenesis in cultured embryonic stem cells lacking Cripto-1. Dev Biol 196(2):237-47 |
| abstractText | The molecular events of cardiac lineage specification and differentiation are largely unknown. Here we describe the involvement of a growth factor with an EGF-like domain, Cripto-1 (Cr-1), in cardiac differentiation. During embryonic development, Cr-1 is expressed in the mouse blastocyst, primitive streak, and later is restricted to the developing heart. To investigate the role of Cr-1, we have generated Cr-1-negative embryonic stem (ES) cell lines by homologous recombination. The resulting double knockout ES cells have selectively lost the ability to form beating cardiac myocytes, a process that can be rescued by reintroducing Cr-1 gene back into the Cr(-/-) cells. Furthermore, the lack of functional Cr-1 is correlated with absence of expression of cardiac-specific myosin light and heavy chain genes during differentiation. Differentiation into other cell types including skeletal muscle is not disrupted. These results suggest that Cr-1 is essential for contractile cardiomyocyte formation in vitro. |
