Development of Diverse Cardiovascular Structures Derived from the Second Heart Field

TL;DRAbstract

The heart is a specialized organ, responsible for distributing oxygenated blood through long distances of systemic vasculature. When fully formed it is composed of diverse cells types from several embryonic origins that must coordinate in order to function properly. During mammalian development the heart is the first organ to form and must become fully functional prior to the completion of organogenesis. The migratory cardiac progenitor population known as the second heart field is responsible for contributing not only additional cardiomyocytes to the nascent heart, but also endothelial and smooth muscle cells that will develop into specialized structures. Although the fates of the SHF have been well described, many potential mechanisms regulating the development of tissue derived from these progenitors remain to be examined. This thesis is composed of five chapters including three original research articles (one of which has been published) and one that describes a recently establishe

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