| First Author | Comai G | Year | 2019 |
| Journal | Elife | Volume | 8 |
| PubMed ID | 31535973 | Mgi Jnum | J:283675 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:6376742 | Doi | 10.7554/eLife.47460 |
| Citation | Comai G, et al. (2019) A distinct cardiopharyngeal mesoderm genetic hierarchy establishes antero-posterior patterning of esophagus striated muscle. Elife 8:e47460 |
| abstractText | In most vertebrates, the upper digestive tract is composed of muscularized jaws linked to the esophagus that permits food ingestion and swallowing. Masticatory and esophagus striated muscles (ESM) share a common cardiopharyngeal mesoderm (CPM) origin, however ESM are unusual among striated muscles as they are established in the absence of a primary skeletal muscle scaffold. Using mouse chimeras, we show that the transcription factors Tbx1 and Isl1 are required cell-autonomously for myogenic specification of ESM progenitors. Further, genetic loss-of-function and pharmacological studies point to MET/HGF signaling for antero-posterior migration of esophagus muscle progenitors, where Hgf ligand is expressed in adjacent smooth muscle cells. These observations highlight the functional relevance of a smooth and striated muscle progenitor dialogue for ESM patterning. Our findings establish a Tbx1-Isl1-Met genetic hierarchy that uniquely regulates esophagus myogenesis and identify distinct genetic signatures that can be used as framework to interpret pathologies arising within CPM derivatives. |
