Long noncoding RNAs (LncRNAs) - The dawning of a new treatment for cardiac hypertrophy and heart failure.

Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) represent a category of noncoding RNAs with the potential for genetic and epigenetic regulations. As important regulators of gene expression, increasing evidence has proven that lncRNAs play a significant regulatory role in various cardiovascular pathologies. In particular, lncRNAs have been proved to be participating in gene regulatory mechanisms involved in heart growth and development that can be exploited to repair the injured adult heart. Furthermore, lncRNAs have been revealed as possible therapeutic targets for heart failure with different causes and in different stages. In the journey from a healthy heart to heart failure, lncRNAs have been shown to participate in almost every landmark of heart failure pathogenesis including ischemic injury, cardiac hypertrophy, and cardiac fibrosis. Furthermore, the manipulation of lncRNAs palliates the progression of heart failure by attenuating ischemic heart injury, cardiac hypertrophy and cardiac fibrosis, as well as facilitating heart regeneration and therapeutic angiogenesis. This review will highlight recent updates regarding the involvement of lncRNAs in cardiac hypertrophy and heart failure and their potential as novel therapeutic targets. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Genetic and epigenetic control of heart failure - edited by Jun Ren & Megan Yingmei Zhang.