【Books/review/comments】A crucial new aspect of cardiac morphogenesis: endocardial hematopoiesis

December 12 2024

Labs: Norika Liu

Paper information

Title:

A crucial new aspect of cardiac morphogenesis: endocardial hematopoiesis

 Norika Liu, Atsushi Nakano

Frontiers in Physiology December 9th, 2024.  doi: 10.3389/fphys.2024.1525985

URL: https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/physiology/articles/10.3389/fphys.2024.1525985/full

Abstract:

Proper morphogenesis during the embryonic development is crucial for the heart to function effectively as a pump. The internal structure of the heart undergoes dramatic transformations over a short period, with remodeling continuing into the neonatal period. Following cardiac looping, endocardial cells in the outflow tract and atrioventricular canal regions undergo endothelial-to-mesenchymal transformation (EndoMT) to form cushion mesenchyme that eventually remodel into cardiac valves and septum. Recent studies have expanded this understanding, demonstrating that endocardial cells also undergo endothelial-to-hematopoietic transformation (EHT), contributing to cushion remodeling (Nakano et al., 2013; Shigeta et al., 2019; Liu et al., 2023b). These findings challenge the conventional view that embryonic hematopoiesis occurs exclusively in the yolk sac and aorta-gonad-mesonephros (AGM) region in mammals. This opinion article summarizes existing research on endocardial hematopoiesis and its role in cardiac morphogenesis.