Hemodynamic Forces Sculpt Developing Heart Valves through a KLF2-WNT9B Paracrine Signaling Axis

Dev Cell. 2017 Nov 6;43(3):274-289.e5. doi: 10.1016/j.devcel.2017.09.023. Epub 2017 Oct 19.

Abstract

Hemodynamic forces play an essential epigenetic role in heart valve development, but how they do so is not known. Here, we show that the shear-responsive transcription factor KLF2 is required in endocardial cells to regulate the mesenchymal cell responses that remodel cardiac cushions to mature valves. Endocardial Klf2 deficiency results in defective valve formation associated with loss of Wnt9b expression and reduced canonical WNT signaling in neighboring mesenchymal cells, a phenotype reproduced by endocardial-specific loss of Wnt9b. Studies in zebrafish embryos reveal that wnt9b expression is similarly restricted to the endocardial cells overlying the developing heart valves and is dependent upon both hemodynamic shear forces and klf2a expression. These studies identify KLF2-WNT9B signaling as a conserved molecular mechanism by which fluid forces sensed by endothelial cells direct the complex cellular process of heart valve development and suggest that congenital valve defects may arise due to subtle defects in this mechanotransduction pathway.

Keywords: Klf2; Klf4; Wnt9b; cardiac cushion; endocardium; heart valve development; hemodynamic force.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Cell Proliferation / physiology
  • Endocardium / metabolism*
  • Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental / genetics*
  • Heart Valves / growth & development*
  • Hemodynamics / physiology*
  • Kruppel-Like Factor 4
  • Kruppel-Like Transcription Factors / metabolism
  • Mice, Transgenic
  • Organogenesis / physiology
  • Signal Transduction / genetics*
  • Transcription Factors / genetics
  • Wnt Proteins / metabolism
  • Zebrafish
  • Zebrafish Proteins / metabolism

Substances

  • Klf2 Protein, zebrafish
  • Klf2 protein, mouse
  • Klf4 protein, mouse
  • Kruppel-Like Factor 4
  • Kruppel-Like Transcription Factors
  • Transcription Factors
  • Wnt Proteins
  • Wnt9b protein, mouse
  • Wnt9b protein, zebrafish
  • Zebrafish Proteins