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Signaling Regulation of EMT Process in Early Heart Valve Development
Na Xu, Chao-Jun Li*
Model Animal Research Center of Nanjing University, Medical School of Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China
Abstract: Heart valves and the membranous interventricular septum arise from embryonic endocardial cells by epithelial-mesenchymal transformation (EMT)， which requires the corporation of many signaling pathways. EMT is triggered by inductive stimulus like TGF-β and BMP that are produced by the adjacent myocardium lying at heart atrioventricular canal (AVC) and outflow tract (OFT) regions. Studies have confirmed that VEGF， Notch， Wnt and some transcriptional factors like NFATc participate in the regulation of EMT. The abnormal expression of these genes may cause the abnormal EMT events and lead to congenital cardiac defects. At present， the research about EMT has been broadly conducted， but the complicated signaling mechanisms involved in EMT are still unclear. To clarify the physiological and pathological significance of the signaling pathways involved in EMT， we reviews the main signaling pathways and the molecular and cellular mechanisms in the EMT process during early heart valve development.
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