Genetics and Epigenetics of Atrial Fibrillation
Atrial fibrillation (AF) is known to be the most common supraventricular arrhythmia affecting up to 1% of the general population. Its prevalence exponentially increases with age and could reach up to 8% in the elderly population. The management of AF is a complex issue that is addressed by extensive...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2020-08-01
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| Series: | International Journal of Molecular Sciences |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/21/16/5717 |
| Summary: | Atrial fibrillation (AF) is known to be the most common supraventricular arrhythmia affecting up to 1% of the general population. Its prevalence exponentially increases with age and could reach up to 8% in the elderly population. The management of AF is a complex issue that is addressed by extensive ongoing basic and clinical research. AF centers around different types of disturbances, including ion channel dysfunction, Ca<sup>2+</sup>-handling abnormalities, and structural remodeling. Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have uncovered over 100 genetic loci associated with AF. Most of these loci point to ion channels, distinct cardiac-enriched transcription factors, as well as to other regulatory genes. Recently, the discovery of post-transcriptional regulatory mechanisms, involving non-coding RNAs (especially microRNAs), DNA methylation, and histone modification, has allowed to decipher how a normal heart develops and which modifications are involved in reshaping the processes leading to arrhythmias. This review aims to provide a current state of the field regarding the identification and functional characterization of AF-related epigenetic regulatory networks |
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| ISSN: | 1661-6596 1422-0067 |