Tbx5 and Tbx20 act synergistically to control vertebrate heart morphogenesis.

Journal Article (Journal Article)

Members of the T-box family of proteins play a fundamental role in patterning the developing vertebrate heart; however, the precise cellular requirements for any one family member and the mechanism by which individual T-box genes function remains largely unknown. In this study, we have investigated the cellular and molecular relationship between two T-box genes, Tbx5 and Tbx20. We demonstrate that blocking Tbx5 or Tbx20 produces phenotypes that display a high degree of similarity, as judged by overall gross morphology, molecular marker analysis and cardiac physiology, implying that the two genes are required for and have non-redundant functions in early heart development. In addition, we demonstrate that although co-expressed, Tbx5 and Tbx20 are not dependent on the expression of one another, but rather have a synergistic role during early heart development. Consistent with this proposal, we show that TBX5 and TBX20 can physically interact and map the interaction domains, and we show a cellular interaction for the two proteins in cardiac development, thus providing the first evidence for direct interaction between members of the T-box gene family.

Full Text

Duke Authors

Cited Authors

  • Brown, DD; Martz, SN; Binder, O; Goetz, SC; Price, BMJ; Smith, JC; Conlon, FL

Published Date

  • February 2005

Published In

Volume / Issue

  • 132 / 3

Start / End Page

  • 553 - 563

PubMed ID

  • 15634698

Pubmed Central ID

  • PMC1635804

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

  • 0950-1991

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

  • 10.1242/dev.01596

Language

  • eng

Conference Location

  • England