About this Research Topic
Heart development is a dynamic process tightly regulated by molecular, cellular and tissue events at spatial and temporal frames during embryogenesis that, finally, ends in adult heart formation. This developmental process comprises multiple cell lineages, including cardiomyocytes, endothelial cells, epicardial cells and extracardiac cell populations such as the neural crest cells which establish an intricate crosstalk signalling to promote cell survival, growth, proliferation, differentiation and migration of cardiac tissues. Because of disturbances during cardiogenesis, pathological phenotypes can be developed. For example, a large number of growth and transcription factors with important roles in the cardiogenic lineage commitment are associated with adult cardiac diseases such as atrial fibrillation, dilated cardiomyopathy or valves diseases.
Moreover, several non-coding RNAs are differentially expressed during cardiogenesis interacting with different elements of cardiac signalling pathways. These non-coding RNAs are deregulated in distinct cardiac pathologies, such as acute myocardium infarction, heart failure, and cardiac fibrosis among others. Cardiovascular diseases affect millions of people, being one of the major worldwide causes of morbidity and mortality. In the past few decades, cardiovascular researchers and clinicians have focused their efforts to unravel the role that signalling pathways, transcription factors, and genetics play during cardiogenesis, having a better understanding of the regulatory networks needed to drive differentiation and proliferation of cell lineages involved in cardiac development. Understanding the complex interactions that regulate cardiac development will lead us to continue to identify new methods and technologies to perform more accurate diagnoses, increase therapeutic precision, and treat many of the cardiac diseases in the near future.
With this Research Topic of “Cell signalling in heart development, disease and regeneration”, we aim to analyze these processes, the molecular and genetic factors that contribute to each step of cardiac development and regeneration, as well as the current and future therapeutic targets. We welcome authors to submit original research articles, technical articles, and reviews covering all aspects of signalling pathways regulating heart structure and function during development and regeneration in health and disease.
We would like to acknowledge Dr. Carlos García Padilla who has acted as coordinator and has contributed to the preparation of the proposal for this Research Topic.
Moreover, several non-coding RNAs are differentially expressed during cardiogenesis interacting with different elements of cardiac signalling pathways. These non-coding RNAs are deregulated in distinct cardiac pathologies, such as acute myocardium infarction, heart failure, and cardiac fibrosis among others. Cardiovascular diseases affect millions of people, being one of the major worldwide causes of morbidity and mortality. In the past few decades, cardiovascular researchers and clinicians have focused their efforts to unravel the role that signalling pathways, transcription factors, and genetics play during cardiogenesis, having a better understanding of the regulatory networks needed to drive differentiation and proliferation of cell lineages involved in cardiac development. Understanding the complex interactions that regulate cardiac development will lead us to continue to identify new methods and technologies to perform more accurate diagnoses, increase therapeutic precision, and treat many of the cardiac diseases in the near future.
With this Research Topic of “Cell signalling in heart development, disease and regeneration”, we aim to analyze these processes, the molecular and genetic factors that contribute to each step of cardiac development and regeneration, as well as the current and future therapeutic targets. We welcome authors to submit original research articles, technical articles, and reviews covering all aspects of signalling pathways regulating heart structure and function during development and regeneration in health and disease.
We would like to acknowledge Dr. Carlos García Padilla who has acted as coordinator and has contributed to the preparation of the proposal for this Research Topic.
Keywords: Cardiac development, cell signalling, molecular pathways, transcription factors, non-coding RNAs, cardiac disease, regeneration
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