Functional roles of epitranscriptomic marks in the cardiovascular system and disease: a narrative review

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: The recent emergence of epitranscriptomics provides an avenue for identifying RNA modifications implicated in the pathophysiology of human disease. To date, over 170 RNA modifications have been identified; these modifications are important because they can affect the fate of RNAs, including their decay, maturation, splicing, stability, and translational efficiency. Although RNA modifications have been reported in many tissues and disease contexts, detailed functional studies in the heart and cardiovascular disease are only beginning to be reported. METHODS: The search for relevant articles related to epitranscriptomics was conducted by focusing on the cardiovascular system and disease in the PubMed database. KEY CONTENT AND FINDINGS: We summarize the recent findings of three epitranscriptomic marks—N6-methyladenosine (m(6)A), adenosine to inosine (A-to-I) RNA editing, and 5-methylcytosine (m(5)C) as other epitranscriptomic marks are not studied extensively in the cardiovascular system and disease. CONCLUSIONS: In this narrative review, the current status of cardiac epitranscriptomics is summarized to raise the awareness of this important field of study.