AimHeart disease is recognized as a consequence of dysregulation of cardiac gene regulatory networks. Previously, unappreciated components of such networks are the long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs). Their roles in the heart remain to be elucidated. Thus, this study aimed to systematically characterize the cardiac long non-coding transcriptome post-myocardial infarction and to elucidate their potential roles in cardiac homoeostasis.Methods and resultsWe annotated the mouse transcriptome after myocardial infarction via RNA sequencing and ab initio transcript reconstruction, and integrated genome-wide approaches to associate specific lncRNAs with developmental processes and physiological parameters. Expression of specific lncRNAs strongly correlated with defined parameters of cardiac dimensions and function. Using chromatin maps to infer lncRNA function, we identified many with potential roles in cardiogenesis and pathological remodelling. The vast majority was associated with active cardiac-specific enhancers. Importantly, oligonucleotide-mediated knockdown implicated novel lncRNAs in controlling expression of key regulatory proteins involved in cardiogenesis. Finally, we identified hundreds of human orthologues and demonstrate that particular candidates were differentially modulated in human heart disease.ConclusionThese findings reveal hundreds of novel heart-specific lncRNAs with unique regulatory and functional characteristics relevant to maladaptive remodelling, cardiac function and possibly cardiac regeneration. This new class of molecules represents potential therapeutic targets for cardiac disease. Furthermore, their exquisite correlation with cardiac physiology renders them attractive candidate biomarkers to be used in the clinic.

Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are emerging as important regulators of developmental pathways. However, their roles in human cardiac precursor cell (CPC) remain unexplored. To characterize the long noncoding transcriptome during human CPC cardiac differentiation, we profiled the lncRNA transcriptome in CPCs isolated from the human fetal heart and identified 570 lncRNAs that were modulated during cardiac differentiation. Many of these were associated with active cardiac enhancer and super enhancers (SE) with their expression being correlated with proximal cardiac genes. One of the most upregulated lncRNAs was a SE-associated lncRNA that was named CARMEN, (CAR)diac (M)esoderm (E)nhancer-associated (N)oncoding RNA. CARMEN exhibits RNA-dependent enhancing activity and is upstream of the cardiac mesoderm-specifying gene regulatory network. Interestingly, CARMEN interacts with SUZ12 and EZH2, two components of the polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2). We demonstrate that CARMEN knockdown inhibits cardiac specification and differentiation in cardiac precursor cells independently of MIR-143 and -145 expression, two microRNAs located proximal to the enhancer sequences. Importantly, CARMEN expression was activated during pathological remodeling in the mouse and human hearts, and was necessary for maintaining cardiac identity in differentiated cardiomyocytes. This study demonstrates therefore that CARMEN is a crucial regulator of cardiac cell differentiation and homeostasis.

Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are emerging as powerful regulators of cardiac development and disease. However, our understanding of the importance of these molecules in cardiac fibrosis is limited. Using an integrated genomic screen, we identified Wisper (Wisp2 super-enhancerassociated RNA) as a cardiac fibroblast-enriched lncRNA that regulates cardiac fibrosis after injury. Wisper expression was correlated with cardiac fibrosis both in a murine model of myocardial infarction (MI) and in heart tissue from human patients suffering from aortic stenosis. Loss-of-function approaches in vitro using modified antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs) demonstrated that Wisper is a specific regulator of cardiac fibroblast proliferation, migration, and survival. Accordingly, ASO-mediated silencing of Wisper in vivo attenuated MI-induced fibrosis Competing interests: S.O. and T.P. filed a patent about therapeutic use of cardiac-enriched lncRNAs including Wisper (patent title: "Diagnostic, prognostic and therapeutic uses of lncRNAs for heart disease and regenerative medicine″; international application number: PCT/EP2014/078868; applicant: University of Lausanne). Data and materials availability:All the data and materials are available through the Gene Expression Omnibus using the following accession numbers: LV (GSM908951 and GSM906396), adipose tissue (GSM906394), adrenal gland (GSM1013126 and GSM896163), bladder (GSM1013133), gastric (GSM1013122, GSM1013128, and GSM910555), ovary (GSM956009), pancreas (GSM1013129 and GSM906397), colon (GSM915331 and GSM910559), small intestine (GSM1013131), spleen (GSM1013132 and GSM906398), and thymus (GSM1013125). HHS Public Access

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The key information processing units within gene regulatory networks are enhancers. Enhancer activity is associated with the production of tissue-specific noncoding RNAs, yet the existence of such transcripts during cardiac development has not been established. Using an integrated genomic approach, we demonstrate that fetal cardiac enhancers generate long noncoding RNAs (IncRNAs) during cardiac differentiation and morphogenesis. Enhancer expression correlates with the emergence of active enhancer chromatin states, the initiation of RNA polymerase II at enhancer loci and expression of target genes. Orthologous human sequences are also transcribed in fetal human hearts and cardiac progenitor cells. Through a systematic bioinformatic analysis, we identified and characterized, for the first time, a catalog of IncRNAs that are expressed during embryonic stem cell differentiation into cardiomyocytes and associated with active cardiac enhancer sequences. RNA-sequencing demonstrates that many of these transcripts are polyadenylated, multi-exonic long noncoding RNAs. Moreover, knockdown of two enhancer-associated IncRNAs resulted in the specific downregulation of their predicted target genes. Interestingly, the reactivation of the fetal gene program, a hallmark of the stress response in the adult heart, is accompanied by increased expression of fetal cardiac enhancer transcripts. Altogether, these findings demonstrate that the activity of cardiac enhancers and expression of their target genes are associated with the production of enhancer-derived IncRNAs.