Forty first-trimester human hearts were studied to lay groundwork for further studies of the mechanisms underlying congenital heart defects. We first sampled 49,227 cardiac nuclei from three fetuses at 8.6, 9.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMethods Mol Biol
January 2025
Anterior Hox genes are required for genetic identity and anterior posterior patterning of the second heart field (SHF), which contributes to the formation of the embryonic heart in vertebrates. Defective contribution of SHF cells to the arterial or venous pole of the heart is often associated with severe congenital heart defects. The mouse Cre-lox system allows the activation of expression of any gene of interest in restricted tissues.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCardiopharyngeal mesoderm contributes to the formation of the heart and head muscles. However, the mechanisms governing cardiopharyngeal mesoderm specification remain unclear. Here, we reproduce cardiopharyngeal mesoderm specification towards cardiac and skeletal muscle lineages with gastruloids from mouse embryonic stem cells.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCongenital heart defects (CHDs), the most common congenital anomalies, are considered to have a significant genetic component. However, despite considerable efforts to identify pathogenic genes in patients with CHDs, few gene variants have been proven as causal. The complexity of the genetic architecture underlying human CHDs likely contributes to this poor genetic discovery rate.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Approximately half of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) patients lack a precise genetic diagnosis. The likelihood of identifying clinically relevant variants increased over time.
Methods: In this study, we conducted a gene-centric reanalysis of exome data of 200 HCM cases 5 years after the initial analysis.
Skeletal muscles of the head and trunk originate in distinct lineages with divergent regulatory programmes converging on activation of myogenic determination factors. Branchiomeric head and neck muscles share a common origin with cardiac progenitor cells in cardiopharyngeal mesoderm (CPM). The retinoic acid (RA) signalling pathway is required during a defined early time window for normal deployment of cells from posterior CPM to the heart.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMol Genet Genomic Med
June 2024
Background: Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) is characterized by dilatation of the left ventricle, systolic dysfunction, and normal or reduced thickness of the left ventricular wall. It is a leading cause of heart failure and cardiac death at a young age. Cases with neonatal onset DCM were correlated with severe clinical presentation and poor prognosis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground And Aims: Presentation, outcome, and management of females with degenerative mitral regurgitation (DMR) are undefined. We analysed sex-specific baseline clinical and echocardiographic characteristics at referral for DMR due to flail leaflets and subsequent management and outcomes.
Methods: In the Mitral Regurgitation International Database (MIDA) international registry, females were compared with males regarding presentation at referral, management, and outcome (survival/heart failure), under medical treatment, post-operatively, and encompassing all follow-up.
Biomechanical forces, and their molecular transducers, including key mechanosensitive transcription factor genes, such as , are required for cardiac valve morphogenesis. However, mutants fail to completely recapitulate the valveless phenotype observed under no-flow conditions. Here, we identify the transcription factor EGR3 as a conserved biomechanical force transducer critical for cardiac valve formation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDespite their burden, most congenital defects remain poorly understood, due to lack of knowledge of embryological mechanisms. Here, we identify Greb1l mutants as a mouse model of crisscross heart. Based on 3D quantifications of shape changes, we demonstrate that torsion of the atrioventricular canal occurs together with supero-inferior ventricles at E10.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFArch Cardiovasc Dis
November 2023
Background: Genetic cardiomyopathy is a rare disease in childhood.
Aims: To analyse clinical and genetic aspects of a paediatric cardiomyopathy population, and to establish genotype-phenotype correlations.
Methods: We performed a retrospective study of all patients with idiopathic cardiomyopathy aged<18years in Southeast France.
Bicuspid aortic valve (BAV), the most common cardiovascular malformation occurs in 0.5-1.2% of the population.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFront Cardiovasc Med
February 2023
Background: Degenerative mitral regurgitation (DMR) due to mitral valve prolapse (MVP) is a common valve disease associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Timing for surgery is debated for asymptomatic patients without Class I indication, prompting the search for novel parameters of early left ventricular (LV) systolic dysfunction.
Aims: To evaluate the prognostic impact of preoperative forward flow indices on the occurrence of post-operative LV systolic dysfunction.
Background: Recent studies have shown the implication of the ROBO-SLIT pathway in heart development. Within this study, we aimed to further assess the implication of the ROBO and SLIT genes mainly in bicuspid aortic valve (BAV) and other human congenital heart defects (CHD).
Methods: We have analyzed a cohort of singleton exome sequencing data comprising 40 adult BAV patients, 20 pediatric BAV patients generated by the Pediatric Cardiac Genomics Consortium, 10 pediatric cases with tetralogy of Fallot (ToF), and one case with coarctation of the aorta.
Calcium (Ca) is the major mediator of cardiac contractile function. It plays a key role in regulating excitation-contraction coupling and modulating the systolic and diastolic phases. Defective handling of intracellular Ca can cause different types of cardiac dysfunction.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe genes cluster plays a key role in embryologic development. Mutations in genes have been linked to different human phenotypes, including developmental delay, limb anomalies, and urogenital malformations. The present study reported a clinical and genetic investigation of a female patient with polymalformative syndrome including left arm agenesis, bicornuate uterus and bicuspid aortic valve.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInt J Mol Sci
November 2022
Mitral valve prolapse (MVP) is a common valvular heart defect with variable outcomes. Several studies reported MVP as an underestimated cause of life-threatening arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death (SCD), mostly in young adult women. Herein, we report a clinical and genetic investigation of a family with bileaflet MVP and a history of syncopes and resuscitated sudden cardiac death.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe mammalian heart arises from various populations of Mesp1-expressing cardiovascular progenitors (CPs) that are specified during the early stages of gastrulation. Mesp1 is a transcription factor that acts as a master regulator of CP specification and differentiation. However, how Mesp1 regulates the chromatin landscape of nascent mesodermal cells to define the temporal and spatial patterning of the distinct populations of CPs remains unknown.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Genetic cardiac diseases are the main trigger of sudden cardiac death (SCD) in young adults. Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is the most prevalent cardiomyopathy and accounts for 0.5 to 1% of SCD cases per year.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLeft Ventricular Non-Compaction (LVNC) is defined by the triad prominent myocardial trabecular meshwork, thin compacted layer, and deep intertrabecular recesses. LVNC associated with dilation is characterized by the coexistence of left ventricular dilation and systolic dysfunction. Pediatric cases with dilated-LVNC have worse outcomes than those with isolated dilated cardiomyopathy and adult patients.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBicuspid aortic valve (BAV) is the most common congenital heart defect with a high index of heritability. Patients with BAV have different clinical courses and disease progression. Herein, we report three siblings with BAV and clinical differences.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCurr Cardiol Rep
June 2022
Purpose Of Review: Cardiac progenitors are the building blocks of the heart. Our knowledge, on how these progenitors build the heart, has considerably increased over the last two decades with the development of single cell approaches. We discuss the lessons learnt from clonal analyses and from single cell sequencing technologies on the understanding of the earliest steps of cardiac specification and lineage segregation.
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