Transcriptome and proteome dynamics in the cardiovascular system.

Abstract

Transcriptome and proteome dynamics in higher eukaryotes are precisely controlled in a cell type-specific manner. Epigenetic regulation of development in mammals is not a new field; however, there have been several advances in the last decade that have profoundly altered our understanding of the mechanisms of epigenetic regulation and the extent to which genome function is differentially modified in the adult during disease. As the leading cause of death in the developed world, cardiovascular disease has been an area where novel findings about transcriptome regulation in lower organisms are rapidly investigated for their relevance to human health. Furthermore, the cardiovascular field has itself been an area of innovation and discovery, with new principles of biological networks arising that have fundamental, as well as translational importance (Barabasi et al. 2010; Chang & Bruneau, 2012; Weiss et al. 2012). To discuss the state-of-the-art in this area, The Physiological Society, at its meeting ‘Physiology 2014’, hosted a symposium entitled ‘Epigenetic regulation of cardiovascular development and disease’ on 1 July 2014 in the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre, overlooking Westminster Abbey, in London.