TY - JOUR TI - Platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) signaling directs cardiomyocyte movement toward the midline during heart tube assembly AU - Bloomekatz, Joshua AU - Singh, Reena AU - Prall, Owen WJ AU - Dunn, Ariel C AU - Vaughan, Megan AU - Loo, Chin-San AU - Harvey, Richard P AU - Yelon, Deborah A2 - Stainier, Didier YR VL - 6 PY - 2017 DA - 2017/01/18 SP - e21172 C1 - eLife 2017;6:e21172 DO - 10.7554/eLife.21172 UR - https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.21172 AB - Communication between neighboring tissues plays a central role in guiding organ morphogenesis. During heart tube assembly, interactions with the adjacent endoderm control the medial movement of cardiomyocytes, a process referred to as cardiac fusion. However, the molecular underpinnings of this endodermal-myocardial relationship remain unclear. Here, we show an essential role for platelet-derived growth factor receptor alpha (Pdgfra) in directing cardiac fusion. Mutation of pdgfra disrupts heart tube assembly in both zebrafish and mouse. Timelapse analysis of individual cardiomyocyte trajectories reveals misdirected cells in zebrafish pdgfra mutants, suggesting that PDGF signaling steers cardiomyocytes toward the midline during cardiac fusion. Intriguingly, the ligand pdgfaa is expressed in the endoderm medial to the pdgfra-expressing myocardial precursors. Ectopic expression of pdgfaa interferes with cardiac fusion, consistent with an instructive role for PDGF signaling. Together, these data uncover a novel mechanism through which endodermal-myocardial communication can guide the cell movements that initiate cardiac morphogenesis. KW - cardiac morphogenesis KW - myocardium KW - endoderm KW - Pdgfra KW - cardiac fusion KW - cardia bifida JF - eLife SN - 2050-084X PB - eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd ER -