UNDERSTANDING CARDIAC DEVELOPMENT THROUGH THE PERSPECTIVE OF GENE-REGULATION AND GENE MANIPULATION

Cardiovascular malformations affect about 1% of newborns, yet much rem ains to be learned about the pathogenesis of these defects. Advances i n understanding some of the molecular events involved in regulating ca rdiac morphogenesis are providing a new perspective with which to appr oach complex issues and questions related to congenital heart disease. More important, this new information provides not only unique opportu nities for developing specific experimental models of congenital heart disease through direct genetic manipulation but also the basis for de veloping ways of therapeutically manipulating cardiac gene expression for some forms of heart disease. This review presents recent advances in the understanding of the molecular aspects of cardiac development a nd how this information can be used to manipulate cardiac expression d uring development.