Cardiac pacemaker and eventual action potential in contractile cells. Having cardiomyocytes connected via gap junctions allow all contractile cells of the heart to act in a coordinated fashion and contract as a unit. All the while being in sync with the pacemaker cells; this is the property that allows the pacemaker cells to control contraction in all other cardiomyocytes. Cells in the SA node spontaneously depolarize, ultimately resulting in contraction, approximately 100 times per minute. This native rate is constantly modified by the activity of sympathetic and parasympathetic nerve fibers via the autonomic nervous system, so that the average resting cardiac rate
Cardiac neural crest cells secondary heart field cells into the cardiac outflow tract. FGF8 mouse mutants have a range of cardiac defects including underdeveloped arch arteries and transposition of the great arteries. GATA transcription factors, which are complex molecules that bind to the DNA sequence "GATA", play a critical role in cell lineage differentiation restriction during cardiac development. The primary function of GATA6 in cardiovascular development is to regulate the morphogenetic patterning of the outflow tract and aortic arch. When GATA6 is inactivated in CNCCs, various cardiovascular defects such as persistent truncus arteriorus and interrupted aortic arch may occur. This phenotype (anomaly) was also