The sinoatrial node (SAN) maintains a rhythmic heartbeat; therefore, a better understanding of factors that drive SAN development and function is crucial to generation of potential therapies, such as biological pacemakers, for sinus arrhythmias. Here, we determined that the LIM homeodomain transcription factor ISL1 plays a key role in survival, proliferation, and function of pacemaker cells throughout development. Analysis of several
Xingqun Liang, Qingquan Zhang, Paola Cattaneo, Shaowei Zhuang, Xiaohui Gong, Nathanael J. Spann, Cizhong Jiang, Xinkai Cao, Xiaodong Zhao, Xiaoli Zhang, Lei Bu, Gang Wang, H.S. Vincent Chen, Tao Zhuang, Jie Yan, Peng Geng, Lina Luo, Indroneal Banerjee, Yihan Chen, Christopher K. Glass, Alexander C. Zambon, Ju Chen, Yunfu Sun, Sylvia M. Evans
ISL1 directly regulates a number of genes required for normal pacemaker function in mice and humans.