Year: 2020
Type: dissertation
Abstract: Cardiac development is a dynamic process that requires a high degree of temporal and spatial regulation for proper heart formation. The molecular identities of distinct cardiac subtypes at early embryonic stages are not well understood. Here, we dissect the early heterogeneity of cardiac progenitors by performing single-cell RNA sequencing on gata5:EGFP+ cells at 13 hours post fertilization (hpf) in the zebrafish embryo. Hierarchical clustering analysis reveals distinct cardiac subtypes including ventricular, atrial/fin bud and second heart field (SHF) progenitors. RNA in situ hybridization analyses reveal that SHF progenitors are likely positioned medially in the anterior lateral plate mesoderm (ALPM) at 13 hpf. In addition, ventricular progenitors are positioned laterally to SHF progenitors, and atrial/fin bud progenitors occupy a dorsal posterior region in the lateral plate mesoderm. Examining the molecular signature of early cardiac populations will provide insight in understanding the basis of congenital heart defects at a transcriptional level.
Source: TSpace (University of Toronto)
Author: Meaghan Leslie
Language: English
Subfield: Molecular Biology
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W3134502255