Mammalian heart development requires precise allocation of cardiac progenitors. The existence of a multipotent progenitor for all anatomic and cellular components of the heart has been predicted but its identity and contribution to the two cardiac progenitor ‘fields’ has remained undefined. Here we show, using clonal genetic fate mapping, that Mesp1+ cells in gastrulating mesoderm are rapidly specified into committed cardiac precursors fated for distinct anatomic regions of the heart. We identify Smarcd3 as a marker of early specified cardiac precursors and identify within these precursors a compartment boundary at the future junction of the left and right ventricles that arises prior to morphogenesis. Our studies define the timing and hierarchy of cardiac progenitor specification and demonstrate that the cellular and anatomical fate of mesoderm-derived cardiac cells is specified very early. These findings will be important to understand the basis of congenital heart defects and to derive cardiac regeneration strategies.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.03848.001

Summary Vegf signaling specifies arterial fate during early vascular development by inducing the transcription of Delta-like 4 (Dll4), the earliest Notch ligand gene expressed in arterial precursor cells (aPCs). Dll4 expression precedes that of Notch receptors in arteries, and factors that direct its arterial-specific expression are not known. To identify the transcriptional program that initiates arterial Dll4 expression we characterized an arterial-specific and Vegf-responsive enhancer of Dll4. Our findings demonstrate that Notch signaling is not required for initiation of Dll4 expression in arteries, and suggest that Notch instead functions as a maintenance factor. Importantly, we find that Vegf signaling activates MAP kinase (MAPK)-dependent ETS factors in the arterial endothelium to drive expression of Dll4, as well as Notch4. These findings identify a Vegf/MAPK-dependent transcriptional pathway that specifies arterial identity by activating Notch signaling components, and illustrate how signaling cascades can modulate broadly expressed transcription factors to achieve tissue-specific transcriptional outputs.

No abstract