Histone methylations in heart development, congenital and adult heart diseases

Abstract

Heart development comprises myocyte specification, differentiation and cardiac morphogenesis. These processes are regulated by a group of core cardiac transcription factors in a coordinated temporal and spatial manner. Histone methylation is an emerging epigenetic mechanism for regulating gene transcription. Interplay among cardiac transcription factors and histone lysine modifiers plays important role in heart development. Aberrant expression and mutation of the histone lysine modifiers during development and in adult life can cause either embryonic lethality or congenital heart diseases, and influences the response of adult hearts to pathological stresses. In this review, we describe current body of literature on the role of several common histone methylations and their modifying enzymes in heart development, congenital and adult heart diseases.

Keywords::

• cardiac hypertrophy
• congenital heart disease
• demethylase
• epigenetics
• heart development
• histone
• methyltransferase

Financial & competing interests disclosure

Work in Z-P Liu’s laboratory is supported by grant from NIHRO1 (HL109471) and Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT RP120717). The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.

No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.

Additional information

Funding

Work in Z-P Liu’s laboratory is supported by grant from NIHRO1 (HL109471) and Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT RP120717). The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed. No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.