Abstract
The embryonic epicardium is an important source of cardiovascular precursor cells and paracrine factors required for adequate heart formation. During embryonic heart formation, WT1 is mainly expressed in epicardial cells and epicardial derived cells. Its expression has been used to trace epicardial derivatives in embryos and recently it has been used to follow the reactivation of epicardial cells after myocardial infarction. Interestingly, the highest level of expression of WT1 during epicardium development correlates with the highest proliferative state, stem cell properties, and migratory capacity of epicardial cells. Here, we review the various types of tools and strategies used to study WT1 function in the embryonic epicardium and provide examples of their use.
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Velecela, V., Fazal-Salom, J., Martínez-Estrada, O.M. (2016). Biological Systems and Methods for Studying WT1 in the Epicardium. In: Hastie, N. (eds) The Wilms' Tumor (WT1) Gene. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 1467. Humana Press, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-4023-3_5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-4023-3_5
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Publisher Name: Humana Press, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-1-4939-4021-9
Online ISBN: 978-1-4939-4023-3
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