Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of mortality and morbidity worldwide. Histone deacetylases (HDACs) play an important role in the epigenetic regulation of genetic transcription in response to stress or pathological conditions. HDACs interact with a complex co-regulatory network of transcriptional regulators, deacetylate histones or non-histone proteins, and modulate gene expression in the heart. The selective HDAC inhibitors have been considered to be a critical target for the treatment of cardiac disease, especially for ameliorating cardiac dysfunction. In this review, we discuss our current knowledge of the cellular and molecular basis of HDACs in mediating cardiac development and hypertrophy and related pharmacologic interventions in heart disease.
Keywords: Histone deacetylase; acetylation; cardiovascular disease; deacetylation; epigenetics; hypertrophy.