The outflow tract (OFT) provides the structural components forming the ventriculoarterial connection. The prevailing concept that this junction "rotates" to acquire its definitive topography also requires a concept of "counterrotation" and is difficult to reconcile with cell-marking studies. Rats between 10 embryonic days (EDs) and 2 postnatal days were stained immunohistochemically and by in situ hybridization. DNA replication was determined by incorporation of bromodeoxyuridine and apoptosis by the annexin V binding and terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP-X nick end labeling (TUNEL) assays. Starting at ED12, cardiomyocytes in the distal (truncal) part of the OFT begin to shed their myocardial phenotype without proceeding into apoptosis, suggesting transdifferentiation. Myocardial regression is most pronounced on the dextroposterior side and continues until after birth, as revealed by the disappearance of the myocardial cuff surrounding the coronary roots and semilunar sinuses and by the establishment of fibrous continuity between mitral and aortic semilunar valves. Fusion of the endocardial ridges of the truncus on late ED13 is accompanied by the organization of alpha-smooth muscle actin-and nonmuscle myosin heavy chain-positive myofibroblasts into a central whorl and the appearance of the semilunar valve anlagen at their definitive topographical position within the proximal portion of the truncus. After fusion of the proximal (conal) portion of the endocardial ridges, many of the resident myofibroblasts undergo apoptosis and are replaced by cardiomyocytes. The distal myocardial boundary of the OFT is not a stable landmark but moves proximally over the spiraling course of the aortic and pulmonary routes, so that the semilunar valves develop at their definitive topographic position. After septation, the distal boundary of the OFT continues to regress, particularly in its subaortic portion. The myocardializing conus septum, on the other hand, becomes largely incorporated into the right ventricle. These opposite developments account for the pronounced asymmetry of the subaortic and subpulmonary outlets in the formed heart.

Abstract-Recent molecular lineage analyses in mouse have demonstrated that the right ventricle is recruited from anterior mesoderm in later stages of cardiac development. This is in contrast to current views of development in the chicken heart, which suggest that the initial heart tube contains a subset of right ventricular precursors. We investigated the fate of the outflow tract myocardium using immunofluorescent staining of the myocardium, and lineage tracer, as well as cell death experiments. These analyses showed that the outflow tract is initially myocardial in its entirety, increasing in length up to HH24. The outflow tract myocardium, subsequently, shortens as a result of ventricularization, contributing to the trabeculated free wall, as well as the infundibulum, of the right ventricle. During this shortening, the overall length of the outflow tract is maintained because of the formation of a nonmyocardial portion between the distal myocardial border and the pericardial reflections. Cell death and transdifferentiation were found to play a more limited contribution to the initial shortening than is generally appreciated, if they play any part at all. Cell death, nonetheless, plays an important role in the disappearance of the myocardial collar that continues to invest the aorta and pulmonary trunk around HH30, and in the separation of the intrapericardial arterial vessels. Taken together, we show, as opposed to some current beliefs, the development of the arterial pole is similar in mammals and birds.

The tubular heart differentiates from the bilateral cardiac fields in the splanchnic mesoderm. The expression of smooth muscle proteins has been shown to accompany the early phases of cardiac muscle formation. In this study we show that during elongation of the arterial pole of the mouse linear heart tube, ␣-smooth muscle actin (␣-Sma) expression extends in the area that has been shown to become recruited into the myocardial lineage, but does not yet express myocardial markers. These data suggest that ␣-Sma identifies mesodermal cells that during subsequent development will be recruited into the myocardial lineage. Myocardium formation is not only observed at the arterial pole, but also at the venous pole and in the intracardiac mesenchyme. This results in the formation of the caval and pulmonary myocardium, the smooth-walled atrial myocardium, the myocardial atrioventricular septum, and the myocardial outlet septum. To determine whether recruitment into the myocardial lineage also takes place in these regions, the spatiotemporal pattern of expression of ␣-Sma and of the myocardial markers sarcoplasmatic reticulum calcium ATPase (Serca2a), ␣-myosin heavy chain (Mhc), and ␤-Mhc were examined. We show that prior to the expression of myocardial markers, ␣-Sma is expressed in these regions, which suggests that these mesodermal cells become recruited into the cardiac lineage after formation of the linear heart tube. Anat Rec Part A 271A: 303-314, 2003.