Presentation description

The Neural Crest (NC) is a multipotent stem cell population unique to vertebrates. These cells differentiate into a diverse array of cell types, including bone, neural, and muscular tissues. During embryogenesis, some NC cells migrate to the heart and differentiate into functional cardiomyocytes (NC-Cms), while other cardiomyocytes are derived from mesoderm. During development, NC-Cms are active in the Notch signaling pathway in zebrafish, expressing the Notch ligand jag2b. Notch is an important developmental signaling pathway consisting of both a membrane-bound ligand and a receptor. Genetic ablation of NC-Cms during development causes morphological defects in the zebrafish heart, such as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. This phenotype is also observed in jag2b null mutants. Because NC-Cms are active in Notch signaling (which is crucial to zebrafish heart development), we became interested in the significance of NC-Cms in this signaling pathway during heart development. We hypothesized that ablation of NC-Cms would reduce Notch signaling in the heart. We also hypothesized that jag2b mutants would have reduced notch signaling in the heart compared to their wild type siblings.