High impact information on nkx2.5

• Together, these results implicate zebrafish Gata5 in controlling the growth, morphogenesis, and differentiation of the heart and endoderm and indicate that Gata5 regulates the expression of the early myocardial gene nkx2.5 [1].
• Forced expression of gata5 in swr/bmp2b and Zoep mutants restores robust nkx2.5 expression [2].
• Embryos lacking zygotic oep (Zoep mutants) display cardia bifida and, as we show here, also display reduced or absent nkx2.5 expression [2].
• Recently, we have demonstrated that the zinc finger transcription factor Gata5 is an essential regulator of nkx2.5 expression [2].
• The preeminence of nkx2.7 in these embryonic lineages is consistent with a key role in cell fate determination, perhaps in part through the induction of nkx2.5 and nkx2 [3].

Anatomical context of nkx2.5

• As an indicator of cardiac induction, we examine expression of nkx2.5, the earliest known marker of precardiac mesoderm; to assess anterior-posterior patterning, we distinguish ventricle from atrium with antibodies that recognize different myosin heavy chain isoforms [4].

Regulatory relationships of nkx2.5

• We conclude that Bmp2b and Oep function at least partly through Gata5 to regulate nkx2.5 expression and promote myocardial differentiation [2].

References