Abstract
The LIM‐homeodomain transcription factor Islet1 (Isl1) is a marker of pluripotential undifferentiated cardiovascular progenitors that will give rise to myocytes, endothelial cells, and smooth muscle cells within the heart and the vasculature. During development, Isl1 is actively expressed in cardiac progenitors prior to their differentiation. Isl1 function is also required for normal heart development, as Isl1 mutant hearts are completely lacking the outflow tract, right ventricle, and have severely reduced atrial tissue. Isl1 is expressed both in cardiogenic mesoderm and in endoderm, the latter a tissue that is required for heart induction. It will also be important to understand tissue‐specific roles for Isl1 in this context. The early expression of Isl1 within multipotential cardiac progenitors and its essential role in heart development suggest that understanding factors that are both upstream and downstream of Isl1 will give critical insights into genetic pathways required for specification of distinct cardiovascular lineages and for normal heart development.
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