The heart and brain are among the earliest and most metabolically demanding organs in human development. Though historically studied in isolation, both systems are developmentally and functionally intertwined, sharing vascular, inflammatory, metabolic, and genetic mechanisms. Disruption of these shared programs underlies a broad spectrum of cardiocerebral disorders, from congenital heart disease and stroke to Alzheimer’s disease, vascular dementia, and neurodevelopmental conditions.
Understanding how these systems develop and fail requires tools that capture cellular complexity at high resolution. Single-cell RNA sequencing, single-cell ATAC sequencing, spatial transcriptomics, proteomics, and genome-wide association studies now allow researchers to map cell-type-specific transcriptional programs, chromatin accessibility, developmental trajectories, and disease-associated cellular states across both organs. Alongside these advances, redox biology, including nitric oxide signaling and protein S-nitrosylation, has emerged as a regulatory layer that connects genetic susceptibility, vascular stress, and disease progression in both the cardiovascular and nervous systems.
This Research Topic brings together studies examining the genetic, epigenomic, transcriptomic, proteomic, spatial, and redox-regulated mechanisms governing cardiocerebral development and disease. We particularly welcome multi-omics work that interrogates shared and organ-specific mechanisms across the heart, brain, vasculature, and neurovascular unit.
Topics include, but are not limited to: • Single-cell and spatial multi-omics of heart, brain, and vascular development • Cellular heterogeneity and lineage specification in cardiovascular, cerebrovascular, and neurovascular systems • Gene regulatory networks and chromatin dynamics during cardiocerebral development • Intercellular communication, vascular remodeling, and neurovascular unit maturation • Genetic risk mapping using GWAS, eQTL, caQTL, TWAS, or single-cell multi-omics integration • Disease-associated cell states in congenital heart disease, stroke, vascular dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, and neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative disorders • Endothelial dysfunction, blood-brain barrier disruption, neuroinflammation, and vascular contributions to neurological disease • Redox signaling, nitric oxide biology, and S-nitrosylation in cardiovascular and neurological disorders • Proteomic and post-translational mechanisms linking genetic susceptibility to disease phenotypes • Computational integration of single-cell, spatial, genetic, epigenomic, and proteomic datasets
We welcome Original Research, Reviews, Mini Reviews, Methods, Perspectives, Hypothesis and Theory articles, and Technology and Code papers. By connecting genetics, multi-omics, spatial biology, and redox signaling, this Research Topic aims to advance understanding of cardiocerebral biology and open new paths toward disease mechanism discovery, biomarker development, and therapeutic intervention.
Article types and fees
This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:
Brief Research Report
Case Report
Clinical Trial
Community Case Study
Data Report
Editorial
FAIR² Data
FAIR² DATA Direct Submission
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Article types
This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:
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