The role and molecular mechanisms of long noncoding RNAs in cardiac diseases

Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are a class of RNAs that are more than 200 nucleotides in length with no protein coding property. LncRNAs are involved in almost every cellular process through multiple mechanisms. LncRNAs can directly bind to molecules in cells such as proteins, RNA, and DNA, to regulate cellular functions by influencing processes including transcription, translation, and molecular transporting. Recent researches showed lncRNAs are key regulators of serious cardiac diseases, especially in development and progression of cardiac ischemia, arrhythmia, cardiac fibrosis, and heart failure. This article mainly summarizes the function and mechanism of lncRNAs in cardiac diseases and gives reasonable prospect of lncRNAs in the future.