RNA Biology in Cardiovascular Disease

In the last years, RNA biology has gained significant attention in cardiovascular science. The rise of next-generation sequencing has not only uncovered various previously unknown types of RNA but has also uncovered a much greater extent of the function(s) of RNA than previously realized. For example, multiple pivotal cardiac splicing factors, such as RBM20 and RBM24, have recently been identified; the functional role of RNA modifications such as m6a are started to be elucidated, and the roles of noncoding RNAs, such as lincRNAs and circRNAs, are being unravelled. Heart disease remains one of the major health problems in the world, and changes in RNA biology can both be a cause and a consequence of disease. Therefore, it is instrumental that the molecular mechanisms that underlie cardiac disease are well understood. These new insights in RNA biology underline the need to study the diverse roles for RNA in the healthy and diseased heart more comprehensively. In this Research Topic, we would like to welcome submissions that concern all RNA biology related studies that impact cardiovascular development and disease.

More specifically, we are interested in the following areas:
• RNA splicing;
• RNA modifications including but not limited to m6a and RNA editing;
• Noncoding RNAs;
• Regulatory roles of RNA;
• RNA-based therapeutics in cardiovascular disease.

We also encourage researchers to submit manuscripts that tackle current bio-informatic challenges that arise when analyzing RNA sequencing data. We aim for Original Research and Methods papers, but we also welcome Reviews and Opinion pieces.