The Drosophila homeobox genes zfh-1 and even-skipped are required for cardiac-specific differentiation of a numb-dependent lineage decision.

A series of inductive signals are necessary to subdivide the mesoderm in order to allow the formation of the progenitor cells of the heart. Mesoderm-endogenous transcription factors, such as those encoded by twist and tinman, seem to cooperate with these signals to confer correct context and competence for a cardiac ...
cell fate. Additional factors are likely to be required for the appropriate specification of individual cell types within the forming heart. Similar to tinman, the zinc finger- and homeobox-containing gene, zfh-1, is expressed in the early mesoderm and later in the forming heart, suggesting a possible role in heart development. Here, we show that zfh-1 is specifically required for formation of the even-skipped (eve)-expressing subset of pericardial cells (EPCs), without affecting the formation of their siblings, the founders of a dorsal body wall muscle (DA1). In addition to zfh-1, mesodermal eve itself appears to be needed for correct EPC differentiation, possibly as a direct target of zfh-1. Epistasis experiments show that zfh-1 specifies EPC development independently of numb, the lineage gene that controls DA1 founder versus EPC cell fate. We discuss the combinatorial control mechanisms that specify the EPC cell fate in a spatially precise pattern within the embryo.
Mesh Terms:
Animals, Animals, Genetically Modified, Bacterial Proteins, Binding Sites, Cell Differentiation, DNA-Binding Proteins, Drosophila, Drosophila Proteins, Embryo, Nonmammalian, Enhancer Elements, Genetic, Epidermal Growth Factor, Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental, Heart, Heart Defects, Congenital, Homeodomain Proteins, Juvenile Hormones, Mesoderm, Mutation, Myocardium, Repressor Proteins, Stem Cells, Trans-Activators, Transcription Factors
Development
Date: Jun. 01, 1999
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