Abstract
Suboptimal intrauterine development has been linked to predisposition to cardiovascular disease in adulthood, a concept termed 'developmental origins of health and disease'. Although the exact mechanisms underlying this developmental programming are unknown, a growing body of evidence supports the involvement of epigenetic regulation. Epigenetic mechanisms such as DNA methylation, histone modifications and micro-RNA confer added levels of gene regulation without altering DNA sequences. These modifications are relatively stable signals, offering possible insight into the mechanisms underlying developmental origins of health and disease. This review will discuss the role of epigenetic mechanisms in heart development as well as aberrant epigenetic regulation contributing to cardiovascular disease. Additionally, we will address recent advances targeting epigenetic mechanisms as potential therapeutic approaches to cardiovascular disease.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 1563 |
| Pages (from-to) | 799-811 |
| Number of pages | 13 |
| Journal | Drug Discovery Today |
| Volume | 20 |
| Issue number | 7 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jul 9 2015 |
ASJC Scopus Subject Areas
- Pharmacology
- Drug Discovery
Keywords
- Genetic Therapy
- MicroRNAs/genetics
- Genetic Predisposition to Disease
- Cardiovascular Agents/therapeutic use
- Humans
- Chromatin Assembly and Disassembly
- Heart Diseases/embryology
- Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental/drug effects
- Genetic Markers
- Morphogenesis/genetics
- Epigenesis, Genetic/drug effects
- DNA Methylation
- Phenotype
- Animals
- Heart/embryology