Islet1基因与心脏发育

心脏发育及心脏疾病干细胞的治疗要求对心脏发育过程中的控制细胞增殖及分化的相关基因的作用机制进行深入了解.Islet1基因(Isl1基因)含有6个外显子和5个内含子,定位于人类5号染色体5q11.2.该基因在基因组内约占12kb,目前所知其最长可读框(ORF)至少由5个外显子组成,编码一个由384个氨基酸组成的转录因子蛋白.最近研究发现,不同的心脏细胞可能源于同一种多能心脏祖细胞—Isl1+细胞,心脏的这一发育模式与血液细胞的形成模式非常相像.另外有研究结果显示,Isl1是与心脏发育密切相关的转录因子之一,其表达随着心脏发育成熟而逐渐下调.虽然针对Isl1基因做了较多的研究工作,但是它表达调控的具体模式及发挥功能的详细作用机制目前仍未完全清楚,本文对最近几年Isl1基因的研究进展作一综述.     

Driving vascular endothelial cell fate of human multipotent Isl1+ heart progenitors with VEGF modified mRNA

Distinct families of multipotent heart progenitors play a central role in the generation of diverse cardiac, smooth muscle and endothelial cell lineages during mammalian cardiogenesis. The identification of precise paracrine signals that drive the cell-fate decision of these multipotent progenitors, and the development of novel approaches to deliver these signals in vivo, are critical steps towards unlocking their regenerative therapeutic potential. Herein, we have identified a family of human cardiac endothelial intermediates located in outflow tract of the early human fetal hearts (OFT-ECs), characterized by coexpression of Isl1 and CD144/vWF. By comparing angiocrine factors expressed by the human OFT-ECs and non-cardiac ECs, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-A was identified as the most abundantly expressed factor, and clonal assays documented its ability to drive endothelial specification of human embryonic stem cell (ESC)-derived Isl1⁺ progenitors in a VEGF receptor-dependent manner. Human Isl1-ECs (endothelial cells differentiated from hESC-derived ISL1⁺ progenitors) resemble OFT-ECs in terms of expression of the cardiac endothelial progenitor- and endocardial cell-specific genes, confirming their organ specificity. To determine whether VEGF-A might serve as an in vivo cell-fate switch for human ESC-derived Isl1-ECs, we established a novel approach using chemically modified mRNA as a platform for transient, yet highly efficient expression of paracrine factors in cardiovascular progenitors. Overexpression of VEGF-A promotes not only the endothelial specification but also engraftment, proliferation and survival (reduced apoptosis) of the human Isl1⁺ progenitors in vivo. The large-scale derivation of cardiac-specific human Isl1-ECs from human pluripotent stem cells, coupled with the ability to drive endothelial specification, engraftment, and survival following transplantation, suggest a novel strategy for vascular regeneration in the heart.     

Origin of non-cardiac endothelial cells from an Isl1+ lineage

The cardiovascular system consists of many cell types with distinct embryonic origins. Cells from an Islet1 (Isl1)-expressing progenitor population make a substantial contribution to the developing heart. We reasoned that cells derived from Isl1-expressing progenitors might contribute more widely to the cardiovascular system. We show that cells derived from an Isl1-expressing progenitor lineage make a wide contribution to the systemic vasculature and that embryos conditionally deficient for Rac1 within this cell population develop defects in the non-cardiac vasculature. These data define new roles for Isl1 in the developing embryo and demonstrate a contribution of Isl1-expressing progenitors to vascular endothelium in vivo.