Figure 2.

The impact of desmosomal mutation (Dsg2^ΔE4–6) on the developing and mature murine heart. The scheme at left indicates that desmosome deficiency leads to remodeling of the embryonic heart, resulting in an expansion of hematopoietic stem cells and erythrocytes. The image below shows the dorsal side of an E11.5 heart with an excessive expansion of erythrocytes that populate the left ventricle and spread out to the pericardial side of the heart (arrow). The scheme at right shows an adult heart, which responds to desmoglein 2 mutation by cardiac remodeling resulting in the expansion of fibrotic cells. The photograph below depicts these changes in the right ventricle (arrow). OFT: outflow tract; RV: right ventricle; LV: left ventricle; RA: right atrium; EPDCs: Epicardial derived cells.