Regulation of Epicardial Cell Fate during Cardiac Development and Disease: An Overview.
Cristina Sanchez-FernandezLara Rodriguez-OuteiriñoLidia Matias-ValienteFelicitas Ramírez de AcuñaFrancisco Hernandez-TorresEstefanía Lozano-VelascoJorge N DomínguezDiego FrancoAmelia Eva AranegaPublished in: International journal of molecular sciences (2022)
The epicardium is the outermost cell layer in the vertebrate heart that originates during development from mesothelial precursors located in the proepicardium and septum transversum. The epicardial layer plays a key role during cardiogenesis since a subset of epicardial-derived cells (EPDCs) undergo an epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT); migrate into the myocardium; and differentiate into distinct cell types, such as coronary vascular smooth muscle cells, cardiac fibroblasts, endothelial cells, and presumably a subpopulation of cardiomyocytes, thus contributing to complete heart formation. Furthermore, the epicardium is a source of paracrine factors that support cardiac growth at the last stages of cardiogenesis. Although several lineage trace studies have provided some evidence about epicardial cell fate determination, the molecular mechanisms underlying epicardial cell heterogeneity remain not fully understood. Interestingly, seminal works during the last decade have pointed out that the adult epicardium is reactivated after heart damage, re-expressing some embryonic genes and contributing to cardiac remodeling. Therefore, the epicardium has been proposed as a potential target in the treatment of cardiovascular disease. In this review, we summarize the previous knowledge regarding the regulation of epicardial cell contribution during development and the control of epicardial reactivation in cardiac repair after damage.
Keyphrases
- single cell
- cell fate
- epithelial mesenchymal transition
- left ventricular
- cardiovascular disease
- cell therapy
- heart failure
- vascular smooth muscle cells
- endothelial cells
- stem cells
- coronary artery disease
- type diabetes
- atrial fibrillation
- young adults
- metabolic syndrome
- high resolution
- mesenchymal stem cells
- transcription factor
- aortic valve
- cell death
- human health
- replacement therapy
- cardiovascular events
- childhood cancer