HOMEOBOX TRANSCRIPTION FACTOR REGULATION IN THE CARDIOVASCULAR-SYSTEM

Tissue remodeling and alterations in cellular differentiation occur in the cardiovascular system during normal development and pathologic co nditions such as cardiac hypertrophy and atherosclerosis. Homeobox gen es encode transcription factors that have been shown to be regulators of body-plan formation, cell growth, differentiation, and region-speci fic cell migration in developing embryos. Recently, several homeobox g enes have been either isolated from or detected in cardiovascular tiss ues, and evidence suggests that some of them may have a regulatory fun ction in the cardiovascular system. We review here what is known about the role of homeobox transcription factors in the control of developm ent and gene expression in the cardiovascular system.