Increasing evidence suggests that blood flow and biomechanical forces generated by the developing heart feedback to regulate cardiac chamber formation and maturation. How such forces are sensed and translated, however, remains unclear. Here, Jiandong Liu and co-workers show that, in zebrafish, cardiac contraction activates Notch signalling in the endocardium to control chamber maturation (p. 4080). By analysing embryos deficient for troponin T type 2a (tnnt2a), which encodes an essential component of the cardiac contraction apparatus, the researchers first show that cardiac contraction is required for the formation of cardiac trabeculae – the luminal protrusions that are indicative of cardiac chamber maturation. They further show that cardiac contraction controls Notch signalling in the endocardium; notch1b expression is reduced in tnnt2a–/– embryos. Notch activation, they report, induces the expression of ephrin b2a and neuregulin 1 to promote trabeculation. Finally, the authors demonstrate that shear stress controls notch1b expression in a primary cilia-dependent manner, suggesting that primary cilia in this context are responsible for detecting fluid flow. In summary, these findings highlight a molecular mechanism that links flow sensing to the transcriptional changes that regulate cardiac development.
Cilia: at the heart of chamber maturation
- Split-screen
- Views Icon Views
-
Article Versions Icon
Versions
- Version of Record 01 December 2015
- Share Icon Share
-
Tools Icon
Tools
- Search Site
Cilia: at the heart of chamber maturation. Development 1 December 2015; 142 (23): e2302. doi:
Download citation file:
Advertisement
Cited by
About us

Our publisher, The Company of Biologists, turns 100 this year. Read about the history of the Company and find out what Sarah Bray, our Chair of the Board of Directors, has to say.
Biologists @ 100 - join us in Liverpool in March 2025

We are excited to invite you to a unique scientific conference, celebrating the 100-year anniversary of The Company of Biologists, and bringing together our different communities. The conference will incorporate the Spring Meetings of the BSCB and the BSDB, the JEB Symposium Sensory Perception in a Changing World and a DMM programme on antimicrobial resistance. Find out more and register by 28 February 2025 to join us in March 2025 in Liverpool, UK.
Call for papers – Lifelong Development: the Maintenance, Regeneration and Plasticity of Tissues

Development invites you to submit your latest research to our upcoming special issue – Lifelong Development: the Maintenance, Regeneration and Plasticity of Tissues. This issue will be coordinated by Guest Editors Meritxell Huch (Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Germany) and Mansi Srivastava (Harvard University and Museum of Comparative Zoology, USA), working alongside our team of academic Editors. Submit your articles by 15 May 2025.
A case for broadening our view of mechanism in developmental biology

In this Perspective, B. Duygu Özpolat and colleagues survey researchers on their views on what it takes to infer mechanism in developmental biology. They examine what factors shape our idea of what we mean by ‘mechanism’ and suggest a path forward that embraces a broad outlook on the diversity of studies that advance knowledge in our field.
In preprints
Did you know that Development publishes perspectives on recent preprints? These articles help our readers navigate the ever-growing preprint literature. We welcome proposals for ‘In preprints’ articles, so please do get in touch if you’d like to contribute.