Understanding Cardiovascular Diseases: From Developmental Mechanisms to Pathophysiology

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) continue to be a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. While much research has focused on adult-onset pathology, increasing evidence highlights the importance of developmental processes in shaping lifelong cardiovascular health. Proper heart and vascular development relies on tightly regulated cellular differentiation, tissue patterning, and signaling networks. Disruptions in these mechanisms during embryogenesis can lead to structural defects, functional impairments, and increased susceptibility to cardiovascular disorders later in life.

Recent studies emphasize that even subtle alterations in early developmental signaling or cellular interactions can have long-term consequences for cardiovascular function. Environmental factors, maternal health, and in utero stressors are now recognized as critical modulators of cardiac development, influencing both structural formation and functional resilience. Understanding these early determinants offers opportunities to identify at-risk individuals and develop preventative strategies before clinical disease manifests.

This research topic seeks to bridge developmental biology and disease pathophysiology, providing insights into the origins, progression, and potential therapeutic interventions for CVDs. Contributions are encouraged that explore molecular, cellular, and systemic aspects of cardiovascular development and their links to disease. Areas of interest include:

• Genetic regulation of cardiovascular formation: Role of mutations and gene networks in heart development.

• Epigenetic influences: How epigenetic modifications affect cardiovascular structure and function.

• Developmental origins of disease: Early-life events that predispose individuals to congenital or adult-onset CVDs.

• Cellular signaling pathways: Key pathways regulating growth, differentiation, and vascularization.

• Congenital heart defects: Understanding how developmental perturbations lead to structural anomalies.

• Model systems in research: Use of animal models, stem cells, and organoids to study cardiovascular biology.

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• FAIR² DATA Direct Submission
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• FAIR² DATA Direct Submission
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Review
• Technology and Code

Keywords: Cardiovascular diseases, Developmental mechanisms, Pathophysiology, Genetic regulation, Cellular signaling

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.