Cookies on this website

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you click 'Accept all cookies' we'll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies and you won't see this message again. If you click 'Reject all non-essential cookies' only necessary cookies providing core functionality such as security, network management, and accessibility will be enabled. Click 'Find out more' for information on how to change your cookie settings.

Cardiac chamber formation represents an essential evolutionary milestone that allows for the heart to receive (atrium) and pump (ventricle) blood throughout a closed circulatory system. Here, we reveal a novel transcriptional pathway between foxn4 and tbx genes that facilitates this evolutionary event. We show that the zebrafish gene slipjig, which encodes Foxn4, regulates the formation of the atrioventricular (AV) canal to divide the heart. sli/foxn4 is expressed in the AV canal, and its encoded product binds to a highly conserved tbx2 enhancer domain that contains Foxn4- and T-box-binding sites, both necessary to regulate tbx2b expression in the AV canal.

Original publication

DOI

10.1101/gad.1629408

Type

Journal article

Journal

Genes Dev

Publication Date

15/03/2008

Volume

22

Pages

734 - 739

Keywords

Animals, Animals, Genetically Modified, Atrioventricular Node, Binding Sites, Chromosome Mapping, DNA Primers, Electrophoretic Mobility Shift Assay, Embryo, Nonmammalian, Forkhead Transcription Factors, Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental, Heart Atria, Heart Ventricles, Immunoenzyme Techniques, RNA, Messenger, T-Box Domain Proteins, Zebrafish, Zebrafish Proteins