Abstract
The epicardium is a critical tissue that directs several aspects of heart development, particularly via the secretion of soluble factors. This review summarizes recent approaches that implicate the epicardium as the source of mitogenic factors promoting cardiomyocyte proliferation, as the source of instructive signals that direct compact zone organization (morphogenesis), and as the tissue that directs formation of the coronary vasculature.
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Acknowledgment
Research in the laboratory of H. M. Sucov described in this review was supported by NIH grant HL070123.
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Sucov, H.M., Gu, Y., Thomas, S. et al. Epicardial Control of Myocardial Proliferation and Morphogenesis. Pediatr Cardiol 30, 617–625 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00246-009-9391-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00246-009-9391-8