Studies of heart development have provided critical insights into evolution, morphogenesis and human disease. The heart is thought to have originated from a rhythmically contractile mesodermal lineage which has been convergently deployed to form a simple tubular pump in a number of taxa. The multi-chambered heart of vertebrates has been generated by the progressive addition of new structures and functions. Recent studies have begun to elucidate heart development and evolution across multiple scales, including gene regulatory networks, biomechanics, cell behaviors and tissue level interactions. Since congenital heart defects (CHDs) are the most common cause of lethality and morbidity in newborns, understanding molecular networks underlying heart evolution and development can inform therapeutic strategies.
With this Research Topic, we will highlight a wide range of discoveries associated with heart development and evolution. Thus, we aim to shed light on gene regulatory networks, signalling pathways, biomechanical inputs and morphogenetic processes implicated in heart development, evolution and the etiology of congenital heart disorders.
We welcome authors to submit original research articles, technical articles, and reviews covering all aspects of heart development, evolution and cardiac disease. Sub-themes for this Research Topic include, but are not limited to:
1) Gene regulatory networks directing heart development.
2) The impact of biomechanical inputs and biochemical signals on cardiac gene expression, morphogenesis or physiology.
3) Evolutionary analyses focused on genes involved in heart development and potentially associated with CHDs.
4) The role of miRNAs, long non-coding RNAs or small peptides in heart development and disease.
5) Comparative analysis of cardiac gene regulatory networks, cell biology or morphogenesis or across vertebrate or invertebrate taxa
Studies of heart development have provided critical insights into evolution, morphogenesis and human disease. The heart is thought to have originated from a rhythmically contractile mesodermal lineage which has been convergently deployed to form a simple tubular pump in a number of taxa. The multi-chambered heart of vertebrates has been generated by the progressive addition of new structures and functions. Recent studies have begun to elucidate heart development and evolution across multiple scales, including gene regulatory networks, biomechanics, cell behaviors and tissue level interactions. Since congenital heart defects (CHDs) are the most common cause of lethality and morbidity in newborns, understanding molecular networks underlying heart evolution and development can inform therapeutic strategies.
With this Research Topic, we will highlight a wide range of discoveries associated with heart development and evolution. Thus, we aim to shed light on gene regulatory networks, signalling pathways, biomechanical inputs and morphogenetic processes implicated in heart development, evolution and the etiology of congenital heart disorders.
We welcome authors to submit original research articles, technical articles, and reviews covering all aspects of heart development, evolution and cardiac disease. Sub-themes for this Research Topic include, but are not limited to:
1) Gene regulatory networks directing heart development.
2) The impact of biomechanical inputs and biochemical signals on cardiac gene expression, morphogenesis or physiology.
3) Evolutionary analyses focused on genes involved in heart development and potentially associated with CHDs.
4) The role of miRNAs, long non-coding RNAs or small peptides in heart development and disease.
5) Comparative analysis of cardiac gene regulatory networks, cell biology or morphogenesis or across vertebrate or invertebrate taxa