This is a free sample of content from The Biology of Heart Disease. Click here for more information on how to buy the book. Cardiac Cell Lineages that Form the Heart Sigole` ne M. Meilhac1, Fabienne Lescroart2,Ce´ dric Blanpain2,3, and Margaret E. Buckingham1 1Institut Pasteur, Department of Developmental and Stem Cell Biology, CNRS URA2578, 75015 Paris, France 2Universite´ Libre de Bruxelles, IRIBHM, Brussels B-1070, Belgium 3WELBIO, Universite´ Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels B-1070, Belgium Correspondence:
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[email protected] Myocardial cells ensure the contractility of the heart, which also depends on other meso- dermal cell types for its function. Embryological experiments had identified the sources of cardiac precursorcells. With the advent of genetic engineering, novel tools have been used to reconstruct the lineage tree of cardiac cells that contribute to different parts of the heart, map the development of cardiac regions, and characterize their genetic signature. Such knowl- edge is of fundamental importance for our understanding of cardiogenesis and also for the diagnosis and treatment of heart malformations. he sources of cells that form the different tracing experiments based on the engineered Tparts of the heart and their relationships to temporal and spatial expression of a reporter each other are of major fundamental interest gene in different cardiac progenitors and their for understanding cardiogenesis. They are also descendants, with the mouse as the principal of biomedical significance in the context of model system. congenital heart malformations and for future therapeutic approaches to cardiac malfunction SOURCES OF CARDIAC CELLS IN THE based on stem cell therapies.