Abstract

-The molecular regulation of heart development is regulated by cis- and trans- factors acting on the genome and epigenome. As a class of important regulatory RNAs, the role of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) in human heart development is still poorly understood. Furthermore, factors that interact with lncRNAs in this process are not well characterized.-Utilizing RNA sequencing, we systematically define the contrasting lncRNA expression patterns between fetal and adult heart. We report that lncRNAs up-regulated in adult versus fetal heart have different sequence features and distributions. For example, the adult heart expresses more sense lncRNAs compared to fetal heart. We also report the co-expression of lncRNAs and neighboring coding genes that have important functions in heart development. Importantly, the regulation of lncRNA expression during fetal to adult heart development appears to be due in part to the coordination of specific developmental epigenetic modifications such as H3K4me1 and H3k4me3. The expression of promoter-associated lncRNAs in adult and fetal heart also appears to be related to these epigenetic states. Finally, transcription factor binding analysis suggests that lncRNAs are directly regulating cardiac gene expression during development.-We provide a systematic analysis of lncRNA control of heart development that gives clues to the roles that specific lncRNAs play in fetal and adult hearts.

View details for DOI 10.1161/CIRCGENETICS.115.001264

View details for PubMedID 26896382