9
January 2003
Inside the embryonic heart: Fluid forces essential for normal development
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| The cover shows the complex blood flow patterns captured in mid-beat. Movies of this work are available as Supplementary Information. |
It has long been suspected that shear forces created by blood flow in the heart and arteries have a major influence on the form and function of both the healthy and diseased heart. In vitro tests have shown that vascular endothelial cells are sensitive to such flow-induced forces. New in vivo imaging techniques based on confocal microscopy confirm that intracardiac fluid forces are essential for normal heart looping and for chamber and valve development in early embryonic zebrafish. This in vitro evidence supports the role for fluid forces in cardiogenesis and adds to the growing evidence that cardiovascular disease may be rooted in processes initiated in the developing embryo and fetus.
Intracardiac fluid forces are an essential epigenetic
factor for embryonic cardiogenesis
JAY R. HOVE,
REINHARD W. KÖSTER, ARIAN S. FOROUHAR, GABRIEL ACEVEDO-BOLTON, SCOTT E. FRASER
& MORTEZA GHARIB
Nature 421, 172–177 (2003); doi:10.1038/nature01282
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