The Heart-Placenta Axis in the First Month of Pregnancy: Induction and Prevention of Cardiovascular Birth Defects
Figure 2
Diagrams depicting the temporal sequence of vertebrate cardiomyocyte differentiation. (a) In the gastrula stage embryo, in the most undifferentiated part of the cardiogenic crescent -catenin localization, an important intermediary of Wnt signaling appears at cell boundaries within the mesoderm. (b) Within this region soon round -catenin-expressing cells are seen. (c) Near these round cells, pericardial coelomata (depicted as black areas) form, as cardiomyocytes change from a mesenchymal organization and elongate to form an epithelial, ventral cardiac compartment. A more ventral population not part of the epithelium now move more ventrally to a fibronectin-rich matrix (green), where these cells (orange) differentiate into endothelial endocardial cells. See Linask review, 2003 [31].
