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Excess VEGF‐A disrupts tubular heart formation and cardiac blood flow dynamics

Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF) plays a critical role during heart development. Clinical evidence shows that maternal conditions that modify VEGF signaling in utero, such as high altitude hypoxia and maternal diabetes, are correlated with an increased risk of congenital heart defects. While VEGF is essential for vasculogenesis and angiogenesis, its role during early heart tube formation is not fully understood. During early embryogenesis, paired endocardial tubes fuse into a single linear heart tube, which ultimately transforms into a four‐chambered heart. To better understand the role of VEGF in heart tube fusion, we studied how an early transient dysregulation of VEGF, produced by adding exogenous VEGF‐A right before tube fusion, affects heart tube formation and the onset of blood flow in the heart, leading to congenital heart defects.