Characterization of the Interventricular Septum Development

The interventricular septum (IVS) separates the right and left ventricles of the heart, preventing the mixing of blood from the oxygenated systemic circulation with that of the deoxygenated pulmonary circulation. Prior research has established the role of cardiac transcription factors in the formation of the IVS. However, the principal molecular mechanism that governs IVS formation remains unknown. To understand the key events that occur during septation we performed a detailed morphological characterization of septation at critical developmental time points. In addition, we used genetic lineage tracing studies to identify the developmental origins of cardiac cells that populate the septum. Finally, as an initial means to assess the role that proliferation has in the maturation of the interventricular septum we performed proliferation analysis of cells within the septum. Analysis of the genetic lineage tracing studies confirm that the interventricular septum is mostly derived from second heart field cells. The proliferation analysis revealed an appreciable number of proliferating cells in the IVS. However, there does not appear to be a distinct regional distribution of proliferating cells within the septum. These works provide a detailed characterization of morphological and genetic events that contribute to septum development that will be used as a fundamental basis from which to further study the molecular mechanisms that dictate septum formation.Bachelor of Scienc