How the Heart Grows: From Multi-scale Data to a Multi-scale Model
Dr Nazanin Ebrahimi
Summary (AI generated)
The process of heart looping involves both ventral bending and right rotation. Initially, researchers believed looping was simple, winding to the right, but later discovered it actually consists of C looping and S looping. Further investigation revealed that C looping includes ventral bending and right rotation. Initially, there was a two-dimensional understanding of C looping, with bending thought to occur in a two-dimensional plane.
However, it was later discovered that rotation and bending occur in three-dimensional space. This means that the right and left sides of the heart before looping do not correspond to the same sides after looping. In a three-dimensional concept, the ventral line in the middle of the heart can be seen moving as the heart closes the loops. This shift results in the middle part of the heart, which was originally the right and left sides in a straight tube, being located in the ventral and dorsal parts of the heart after looping.
Therefore, it is crucial to study C looping three-dimensionally to understand the mechanisms and control involved. The diagram below illustrates the different hypotheses related to heart looping.