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Cardiac expression patterns of endothelin‐converting enzyme (ECE): Implications for conduction system development
Author(s) -
Sedmera David,
Harris Brett S.,
Grant Elizabeth,
Zhang Ning,
Jourdan Jane,
Kurkova Dana,
Gourdie Robert G.
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
developmental dynamics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.634
H-Index - 141
eISSN - 1097-0177
pISSN - 1058-8388
DOI - 10.1002/dvdy.21572
Subject(s) - biology , heart development , endothelin 1 , medicine , endothelin receptor , endocrinology , bosentan , messenger rna , endothelin receptor antagonist , myocyte , hemodynamics , electrical conduction system of the heart , microbiology and biotechnology , receptor , embryonic stem cell , biochemistry , gene , electrocardiography
The spatiotemporal distribution of the endothelin‐converting enzyme (ECE) protein in the embryonic chick heart and the association of this polypeptide with the developing cardiac conduction system is described here for the first time. Further, we show how cardiac hemodynamic load directly affects ECE level and distribution. Endothelin (ET) is a cytokine involved in the inductive recruitment of Purkinje fibers. ET is produced by proteolytic cleavage of Big‐ET by ECE. We generated an antibody against chick ECE recognizing a single band at ∼70 kD to correlate the cardiac expression of this protein with that reported previously for its mRNA. ECE protein expression was more widespread compared to its mRNA, being present in endothelial cells, mesenchymal cells, and myocytes, and particularly enriched in the trabeculae and nascent ventricular conduction system. The myocardial expression was significantly modified under experimentally altered hemodynamic loading. In vivo, ET receptor blockade with bosentan delayed activation sequence maturation. These data support a role for ECE in avian cardiac conduction system differentiation and maturation. Developmental Dynamics 237:1746–1753, 2008. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.