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First published online 28 April 2004
doi: 10.1242/dev.01145
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1 Department of Zoology, Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University, Sakyo,
Kyoto 606-8502, Japan
2 CREST, Japan Science and Technology Agency, Kawaguchi, Saitama 333-0012,
Japan
Author for correspondence (e-mail:
yutaka{at}ascidian.zool.kyoto-u.ac.jp).
Accepted 17 February 2004
Understanding the molecular basis of heart development is an important research area, because malformation of the cardiovascular system is among the most frequent inborn defects. Although recent research has identified molecules responsible for heart morphogenesis in vertebrates, the initial specification of heart progenitors has not been well characterized. Ascidians provide an appropriate experimental system for exploring this specification mechanism, because the lineage for the juvenile heart is well characterized, with B7.5 cells at the 110-cell stage giving rise to embryonic trunk ventral cells (TVCs) or the juvenile heart progenitors. Here, we show that Cs-Mesp, the sole ortholog of vertebrate Mesp genes in the ascidian Ciona savignyi, is specifically and transiently expressed in the embryonic heart progenitor cells (B7.5 cells). Cs-Mesp is essential for the specification of heart precursor cells, in which Nkx, HAND and HAND-like (NoTrlc) genes are expressed. As a result, knockdown of Cs-Mesp with specific morpholino antisense oligonucleotides causes failure of the development of the juvenile heart. Together with previous evidence obtained in mice, the present results suggest that a mechanism for heart specification beginning with Mesp through Nkx and HAND is conserved among chordates.
Key words: Chordate, Ciona savignyi, Mesp, Heart development
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