title: Epigenetic mechanisms in atrial fibrillation: New insights and future directions.
abstract: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common sustained arrhythmia. AF is a complex disease that results from genetic and environmental factors and their interactions. In recent years, numerous studies have shown that epigenetic mechanisms significantly participate in AF pathogenesis. Even though a poor understanding of the molecular and electrophysiologic mechanisms of AF, accumulated evidence has suggested that the relevance of epigenetic changes in the development of AF. The aim of this review is to describe the present knowledge about the epigenetic regulatory features significantly participates in AF, and look ahead on new perspectives of epigenetic mechanisms research. Epigenetic regulatory features such as DNA methylation, histone modification, and microRNA influence gene expression by epigenetic mechanisms and by directly binding to various factor response elements in the target gene promoters. Given the role of epigenetic alterations in regulating genes, there is potential for the integration of factors-induced epigenetic alterations as informative factors in the risk assessment process. In this review, new insight into the epigenetic mechanisms in AF pathogenesis is discussed, with special emphasis on DNA methylation, histone modification, and microRNA. Further studies are needed to reveal the potential targets of epigenetic mechanisms, and it can be developed as a therapeutic target for AF.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, The Second Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China; Cardiovascular Research Center, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China.
authors.forename: Hui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tao
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, The Second Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China; Cardiovascular Research Center, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China. Electronic address: ayskh3@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Kai-Hu
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, The Second Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China. Electronic address: yjjncs01@126.com.
authors.forename: Jing-Jing
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: School of Pharmacy, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001281:Atrial Fibrillation / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology; D042002:Chromatin Assembly and Disassembly; D019175:DNA Methylation; D044127:Epigenesis, Genetic; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D005820:Genetic Testing; D006329:Heart Conduction System / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000235:genetics*; D006657:Histones / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D010641:Phenotype; D011499:Protein Processing, Post-Translational
chemical_list: D006657:Histones; D035683:MicroRNAs
keywords: Atrial fibrillation; DNA methylation; Epigenetic; histone modification; microRNA