Precardiac mesoderm differentiation in vitro. Actin-isotype synthetic transitions, myofibrillogenesis, initiation of heartbeat, and the possible involvement of collagen.

The differentiation of precardiac mesoderm into beating heart tissue was examined during explant culture. Explanted tissue forms tubular heart-like vesicles and initiates rhythmic contractility within 18-24 h in vitro, a developmental time-course approximating that observed during in vivo development. Electron-microscopic observations reveal that beating heart cells are rich in cytoplasmic myofibrils in varying degrees of order, with some regions containing highly organized myofibrillar arrays. The analysis of actin-isotype biosynthesis, using metabolic labeling with [35S]-methionine and isoelectric-focusing resolution of the synthesized radioactive polypeptides, demonstrates that the initiation of cardiac alpha-actin synthesis and the pattern of transition in the synthesis of alpha-, beta-, and gamma-actin isotypes is equivalent to the initiation time and pattern observed in vivo. A possible collagen involvement in the differentiation process was investigated by assessing the effects of collagen-synthesis inhibitors on the development of the explant cultures. Two different agents, alpha, alpha'-dipyridyl and L-azetidine-2-carboxylic acid, exhibited a dose-dependent ability to inhibit the formation of beating heart tissue. When examined by electron microscopy, the nonbeating tissue exhibited a drastic depression of myofibrillogenesis, but otherwise appeared healthy. Further examination of the effect of L-azetidine-2-carboxylic acid demonstrated that the inhibition of myofibril formation and heartbeat was correlated with a 60% inhibition of native collagen synthesis; however, the time-course and pattern of actin-isotype biosynthesis was completely unaffected. The data suggest a possible involvement in heart differentiation that is necessary for either the synthesis of non-actin cardiac contractile proteins or the assembly of cardiac contractile proteins into myofibrils.