Retroviral vectors to study cardiovascular development.

The functioning of the vertebrate heart depends upon the proper organization of its complex structure: atrial and ventricular myocytes, the conduction system, the fibrous skeleton that forms the chambers and valves of the heart, the coronary vessels, and neural elements. Cell-type specific transgenic models for addressing molecular mechanisms regulating heart development necessitate controllable gene insertions into the precursors of each cell type forming the heart. The unique properties of retrovirus-based shuttle vectors provide a powerful tool for (a) identifying the origin and lineage relationships of all cell types forming the heart; and (b) gene targeting to the selected cell type and time point during heart development.