New research indicates that long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs), a class of noncoding RNA larger than 200 nucleotides, may contribute to the development of cardiac hypertrophy (Viereck J et al. Sci Transl Med. 2016;8[326]:326ra2).
After generating a whole-genome lncRNA profile to identify differentially expressed lncRNAs in heart muscle cells in a mouse model for pressure overload–induced cardiac hypertrophy and heart failure, investigators led by researchers at Hannover Medical School in Germany found that a particular lncRNA that they named cardiac hypertrophy–associated transcript (Chast) was up-regulated.