G Protein-Coupled Receptor APJ and Its Ligand Apelin Act Downstream of Cripto to Specify Embryonic Stem Cells Toward the Cardiac Lineage Through Extracellular Signal-Regulated Kinase/p70S6 Kinase Signaling Pathway

Abstract

Together our data provide evidence for a previously unrecognized function of APJ/apelin in the Cripto signaling pathway governing mesoderm patterning and cardiac specification in mammals.