Epigenetics and vascular diseases. (August 2019) - Stratton, Matthew S.
Abstract: Cardiovascular disease remains the number one cause of death and disability worldwide despite significant improvements in diagnosis, prevention, and early intervention efforts. There is an urgent need for improved understanding of cardiovascular processes responsible for disease development in order to develop more effective therapeutic strategies. Recent knowledge gleaned from the study of epigenetic mechanisms in the vasculature has uncovered new potential targets for intervention. Herein, we provide an overview of epigenetic mechanism, and review recent findings related to epigenetics in vascular diseases, highlighting classical epigenetic mechanism such as DNA methylation and histone modification as well as the newly discovered non-coding RNA mechanisms. Graphical abstract: Unlabelled Image Highlights: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) remains the leading cause of death worldwide and novel therapeutic strategies are needed. Epigenetic based therapies for CVD show promise in preclinical models but remain under-developed clinically. Additional class and isoform specific small molecule inhibitors for epigenetic proteins are needed. The field has only scratched the surface of long non-coding RNA research in CVD.