Endothelial WT1 and the epicardium in cardiac development and disease

The epicardium has been identified as a potential source of cardiac progenitors, however, the exact contribution during regeneration is still under debate. The aim of this thesis is to gain more insight of the involvement of WT1 and the epicardium in the cellular and molecular processes of the developing heart and after cardiac injury. In Chapter 2, the spatiotemporal expression pattern of WT1 during developmental stages and after cardiac injury in mice and a potential role for WT1 in cardiac endothelial cell proliferation and vessel formation are described. Chapter 3, shows that the expression of WT1 is present during human cardiac development in cells that are crucial for the formation of the cardiac vessels and ventricular myocardium. Chapter 4 is a comprehensive book chapter about the role of WT1 in cardiac development and after injury. In Chapter 5, we investigated the development of the epicardium in relation to cardiac innervation and we show for the first time that the epicardium plays a role in modulating the cardiac autonomic response prior to innervation. In Chapter 6, the response of EPDCs to mechanical stimulation has been studied by transplantation of EPDCs in infarcted myocardium and by using an in vitro straining device.