“…These events require properly established ECM, which accommodates endothelial-mesenchymal transition, cell proliferation, and cell-cell adhesion in developing hearts (Kruithof, Krawitz, & Gaussin, 2007; Sullivan & Black, 2013; Von Gise & Pu, 2012). In adult murine hearts, where H19 has been well implicated in cardiac fibrosis and remodeling (Greco et al, 2016; Hobuß et al, 2020; Lee et al, 2011; Wang, Sun, & Sun, 2021), H19 overexpression led to increased ECM and fibrosis markers after myocardial injury, while deleting H19 resulted in downregulated ECM genes (Choong et al, 2019). In our +/ hIC1 endothelial cells, the expression of several key ECM genes such as Periostin (Postn ) (Snider, 2009; Sullivan, 2013), Col14a1 , and Adamts17 (Hubmacher, 2015) was significantly upregulated compared to wild-type cells.…”