Maurice J. B. van den Hoff
Academic Medical Center, Meibergdreef, Netherlands
Title: Myocardium formation after the development of the linear heart tube
Biography
Biography: Maurice J. B. van den Hoff
Abstract
Over the last decade knowledge on the formation of the heart has advanced substantially. It was long thought that within the linear heart tube, which is formed during the third week after fertilization in humans, all future adult cardiac compartments were already segmentally present. However, extensive molecular analyses in experimental animals have shown that the initially formed linear heart tube only comprises the left side of the interventricular septum and a small part of the left ventricular wall.
During subsequent development, the linear heart tube lengthens by the recruitment of mesodermal cells that differentiate into the myocardial lineage at both the arterial en venous poles. To discriminate the mesodermal cells that contribute to the forming heart at both distal borders of the heart tube, they are often dubbed the first and second heart fields. Within this lengthening heart tube the cardiac chambers are formed by local differentiation and proliferation. The latter concept is summarized in the ballooning model of heart development. In this presentation new insights in this field will be discussed.