Elsevier

Developmental Biology

Volume 235, Issue 1, 1 July 2001, Pages 98-109
Developmental Biology

Regular Article
Misexpression of Noggin Leads to Septal Defects in the Outflow Tract of the Chick Heart

https://doi.org/10.1006/dbio.2001.0291Get rights and content
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Abstract

BMP-2 and BMP-4 are known to be involved in the early events which specify the cardiac lineage. Their later patterns of expression in the developing mouse and chick heart, in the myocardium overlying the atrioventricular canal (AV) and outflow tract (OFT) cushions, also suggest that they may play a role in valvoseptal development. In this study, we have used a recombinant retrovirus expressing noggin to inhibit the function of BMP-2/4 in the developing chick heart. This procedure resulted in abnormal development of the OFT and the ventricular septum. A spectrum of abnormalities was seen ranging from common arterial trunk to double outlet right ventricle. In hearts infected with noggin virus, where the neural crest cells have been labelled, the results show that BMP-2/4 function is required for the migration of neural crest cells into the developing OFT to form the aortopulmonary septum. Prior to septation, misexpression of noggin also leads to a decrease in the number of proliferating mesenchymal cells within the proximal cushions of the outflow tract. These results suggest that BMP-2/4 function may mediate several key events during cardiac development.

Keywords

bone morphogenetic proteins
noggin
neural crest
outflow tract
morphogenesis

Cited by (0)

1

To whom correspondence should be addressed at The Royal Veterinary College, Department of Veterinary Basic Sciences, Camden, London NW1 0TU, U.K. Fax: (020) 7679 6219. E-mail: [email protected].

2

Present address: Institute for Ecology and Evolution, University of Leiden, Netherlands.