LncRNA ZEB1-AS1: A New Player in Epigenetic Control of Cardiac Hypertrophy

Cardiac hypertrophy represents a fundamental adaptive response of the myocardium to hemodynamic stress. Although initially compensatory, persistent hypertrophy predisposes to maladaptive remodeling, diastolic dysfunction, and ultimately heart failure. Despite substantial progress in neurohormonal blockade and blood pressure control, therapies directly targeting the molecular mechanisms that sustain pathological hypertrophy remain limited. In recent years, growing attention has turned toward noncoding RNAs—particularly long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs)—as regulators of cardiomyocyte growth, contractility, and survival.^, Understanding how these molecules orchestrate gene expression and chromatin remodeling offers new opportunities to modulate the hypertrophic process at its regulatory core.

While several lncRNAs such as TUG1, NEAT1, and PVT1 have been linked to the hypertrophic response, the diversity of these transcripts and the context-specificity of their effects suggest that many key regulators remain unidentified. Among these, ZEB1-AS1, originally characterized in cancer biology as a modulator of cell proliferation and migration, had not been studied in the heart. Whether this lncRNA contributes to cardiac remodeling, and through which molecular intermediates, remains unknown.

[…]