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Rb and LEK1, a “Pas de Deux” in Cardiogenesis
Michel Pucéat
volume 4 | issue 8
august 2005Pages: 1030-1032
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Cardiogenesis results from activation of a complex transcriptional network. The transcription factors work in a combinatorial manner to transactivate expression of constitutive genes. Embryonic stem (ES) cells are capable to recapitulate the early stages of cardiac cell differentiation. So far only the Bone Morphogenetic Protein (BMP)–dependent pathway switching on expression of Nkx2.5, one of the earliest cardiac transcription factor, has been described as the canonical cardiogenic pathway. Recently, using Rb-/- and LEK1-downregulated ES cells, we described a novel BMP-independent cardiogenic pathway implicating both Rb and LEK1, a mammalian homolog of the chicken cardiomyogenic factor 1(CMF1). Here, I discuss the role of Rb pathways in cell differentiation and the potential mechanisms underlying the effect of Rb/LEK1 interaction on cardiac specification of stem cells.
We now provide open access to journal articles published online for one year or more. This article may be downloaded at the following link:
Download PDF If the document does not open, please right-click on the link (control-click on a Macintosh) and select the option to save the file to disk.