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1: Science. 2000 Mar 10;287(5459):1820-4.Click here to read Links

gridlock, an HLH gene required for assembly of the aorta in zebrafish.

Zhong TP, Rosenberg M, Mohideen MA, Weinstein B, Fishman MC.

Cardiovascular Research Center, Massachusetts General Hospital-Harvard Medical School, 149 13th Street, 4th floor, Charlestown, MA 02129, USA.

The first artery and vein of the vertebrate embryo assemble in the trunk by migration and coalescence of angioblasts to form endothelial tubes. The gridlock (grl) mutation in zebrafish selectively perturbs assembly of the artery (the aorta). Here it is shown that grl encodes a basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) protein belonging to the Hairy/Enhancer of the split family of bHLH proteins. The grl gene is expressed in lateral plate mesoderm before vessel formation, and thereafter in the aorta and not in the vein. These results suggest that the arterial endothelial identity is established even before the onset of blood flow and implicate the grl gene in assignment of vessel-specific cell fate.

PMID: 10710309 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]