PUBLICATION
Transient cardiomyocyte fusion regulates cardiac development in zebrafish
- Authors
- Sawamiphak, S., Kontarakis, Z., Filosa, A., Reischauer, S., Stainier, D.Y.R.
- ID
- ZDB-PUB-171117-14
- Date
- 2017
- Source
- Nature communications 8: 1525 (Journal)
- Registered Authors
- Filosa, Alessandro, Kontarakis, Zacharias, Reischauer, Sven, Stainier, Didier
- Keywords
- none
- MeSH Terms
-
- Animals
- Animals, Genetically Modified
- Cell Differentiation/genetics
- Cell Fusion*
- Cell Proliferation/genetics
- Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental*
- Heart/embryology
- Heart/growth & development
- Larva/genetics
- Larva/growth & development
- Larva/metabolism
- Luminescent Proteins/genetics
- Luminescent Proteins/metabolism
- Muscle Fibers, Skeletal/cytology
- Muscle Fibers, Skeletal/metabolism
- Myocardium/cytology
- Myocardium/metabolism*
- Myocytes, Cardiac/cytology
- Myocytes, Cardiac/metabolism*
- Zebrafish
- Zebrafish Proteins/genetics*
- Zebrafish Proteins/metabolism
- PubMed
- 29142194 Full text @ Nat. Commun.
Citation
Sawamiphak, S., Kontarakis, Z., Filosa, A., Reischauer, S., Stainier, D.Y.R. (2017) Transient cardiomyocyte fusion regulates cardiac development in zebrafish. Nature communications. 8:1525.
Abstract
Cells can sacrifice their individuality by fusing, but the prevalence and significance of this process are poorly understood. To approach these questions, here we generate transgenic reporter lines in zebrafish to label and specifically ablate fused cells. In addition to skeletal muscle cells, the reporters label cardiomyocytes starting at an early developmental stage. Genetic mosaics generated by cell transplantation show cardiomyocytes expressing both donor- and host-derived transgenes, confirming the occurrence of fusion in larval hearts. These fusion events are transient and do not generate multinucleated cardiomyocytes. Functionally, cardiomyocyte fusion correlates with their mitotic activity during development as well as during regeneration in adult animals. By analyzing the cell fusion-compromised jam3b mutants, we propose a role for membrane fusion in cardiomyocyte proliferation and cardiac function. Together, our findings uncover the previously unrecognized process of transient cardiomyocyte fusion and identify its potential role in cardiac development and function.
Genes / Markers
Expression
Phenotype
Mutations / Transgenics
Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
Orthology
Engineered Foreign Genes
Mapping