Tbx18 and the fate of epicardial progenitors

Abstract

Uncovering the origins of myocardial cells is important for understanding and treating heart diseases. Cai et al. suggest that Tbx18-expressing epicardium provides a substantial contribution to myocytes in the ventricular septum and the atrial and ventricular walls. Here we show that the T-box transcription factor gene 18 (Tbx18) itself is expressed in the myocardium, showing that their genetic lineage tracing system does not allow conclusions of an epicardial origin of cardiomyocytes in vivo to be drawn.

Adipogenesis and epicardial adipose tissue: A novel fate of the epicardium induced by mesenchymal transformation and PPARγ activation

“…1 G-I), indicating that the epicardium is likely to be the sole source of EAT adipocytes. However, it should be cautioned that additional nonepicardial sites of Tbx18Cre expression (22,23) could in principle contribute cells to this tissue.…”

The Multiple Phases and Faces of Wnt Signaling During Cardiac Differentiation and Development

“…112 These findings have been challenged by others. 116 Furthermore, it is current textbook knowledge that the epicardium forms the coronary vessels. A very recent study indicated in contrast that the coronary arteries form by developmental reprogramming of venous cells.…”

The epicardium as modulator of the cardiac autonomic response during early development

“…Although the chicken model demonstrates highly reproducible results, the results described in the current work could possibly be strengthened by electrophysiological testing in a mammalian model, which shows defects in epicardial covering. However, up to date, there is no mouse model specifically affecting outgrowth of the epicardium, since the genes commonly used for epicardium-specific expression of Cre are known to be expressed more broadly throughout the fetus during development [19,45].…”