Cardiac looping is a morphogenetic process that moves the developing chambers of the vertebrate heart into their approximate final positions. It involves the bending of the initially straight heart tube into an S-shaped loop; however, the mechanisms governing this process of S-looping have so far remained elusive. Now, Salim Abdelilah-Seyfried, Verónica Lombardo and colleagues reveal how S-looping morphogenesis is regulated in zebrafish embryos. They find that S-looping occurs simultaneously with the planar bending of the heart tube, a cardiac torsion and an anisotropic ballooning of the heart chambers, suggesting that these processes may, together, drive S-looping. They further show that Bmp signalling, a well-known regulator of organ morphogenesis, promotes S-looping. Bmp activity is stronger at the superior than at the inferior atrioventricular canal (AVC), generating an asymmetric pattern of Bmp signalling. This appears to promote myocardial cells to acquire conical and bottlenecked shapes, which in turn facilitates planar bending of the heart during S-looping. By knocking out cardiac TroponinT2a, a protein that promotes heart contraction, the authors also demonstrate that Bmp activity at the AVC is regulated by cardiac contractility. Thus, this study identifies key factors that shape heart morphology, which may eventually aid researchers in understanding the causes of human congenital heart defects.
Bmp loops the heart into shape
- Split-screen
- Views Icon Views
-
Article Versions Icon
Versions
- Version of Record 14 November 2019
- Share Icon Share
-
Tools Icon
Tools
- Search Site
Bmp loops the heart into shape. Development 15 November 2019; 146 (22): e2201. doi:
Download citation file:
Advertisement
Cited by
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.