Key result
Cardiac contractile activity and calcium transients begin as early as the cardiac crescent stage in the developing mouse embryo, preceding the formation of the linear heart tube.
Why the study?
Advances in imaging have enabled determination of when cardiac contractile activity begins during embryonic development, prompting a synthesis of how early contractile function initiates and influences cardiac development.
Answers are grounded in this paper and cite their sources.
This review summarizes the developmental timeline and molecular mechanisms underlying the first heartbeat, highlighting that calcium transients precede sarcomere assembly and contraction in the early cardiac crescent.
The amniote embryonic heart starts as a crescent of mesoderm that transitions through a midline linear heart tube in the course of developing into the four chambered heart. It is unusual in having to contract rhythmically while still undergoing extensive morphogenetic remodeling. Advances in imaging have allowed us to determine when during development this contractile activity starts. In the mouse, focal regions of contractions can be detected as early as the cardiac crescent stage. Calcium transients, required to trigger contraction, can be detected even earlier, prior to contraction. In this review, we outline what is currently known about how this early contractile function is initiated and the impact early contractile function has on cardiac development.
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Tyser et al. (2019) conducted a review in Embryonic heart development. Cardiac contractile activity and calcium transients begin as early as the cardiac crescent stage in the developing mouse embryo, preceding the formation of the linear heart tube.
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