The Role of Cilia in Heart Development
A lightsheet 3D reconstruction of an E9.5 mouse heart.
Since cilia function as mechanosensors in other fluid-filled organs they could also be fluid flow sensors in heart development. We have shown that cilia are found in the mouse embryo heart at e8.5 – e12.5, and that heart development in mice with absent cilia is much more severely affected than in mice with paralyzed cilia and isolated abnormalities of LR development.
We are using mice with conditional mutations affecting cilia structure and function to generate mice with cardiac-specific ciliary abnormalities in order to investigate the mechanism by which cardiac cilia function directly in heart morphogenesis.
Current work in the lab is focusing on the role of cilia as mechanotransducers to initiate valve development.
H&E cross-sections of E9.5 mice of various mutant cilia and ciliary signaling backgrounds. Slough et al. (2008).
Picture Credit: Arl13b (cilia, green) in the atrioventricular canal of a E10 mouse heart section. Picture by Kathryn Berg.