© 2004 by European Society of Cardiology
Copyright © 2004, European Society of Cardiology
Unveiling the transcriptional control of the developing cardiac conduction system
Department of Experimental Biology, Faculty of Health and Experimental Sciences, University of Jaén, 23071 Jaén, Spain
* Tel.: +34-95-3002763; fax: +34-95-3012141. Email address: dfranco@ujaen.es
Received 4 March 2004; accepted 10 March 2004
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The development of the heart is a fascinating process. The heart starts out as a straight tube that subsequently bends to the right and forms an embryonic heart with prospective atrial and ventricular chambers [1]. Soon after, septation is initiated and the atrial and ventricular chambers are separated into left and right components, configuring a four-chambered organ with synchronous contraction. Distinct cell lineages are involved in these processes and their respective morphogenetic contributions are well described. Over the last decade, a turning point has taken place in the field of cardiovascular development since the first cardiac-enriched transcription factors were discovered. Soon after, the generation of targeted mutations led to a wide range of cardiac phenotypes that has progressively