LncRNAs as Key Molecular Regulators of Cardiac and Skeletal Muscle Development

The formation of the cardiac and skeletal striated muscles is a highly coordinated process during embryogenesis, emanating in both cases as mesodermal derivatives. Over the last decades the transcriptional regulatory networks that govern cardiac and skeletal muscle morphogenesis have been extensively studied. However, non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) have emerged as new players modulating different aspects of gene expression, adding thus a novel layer of complexity to those developmental programs, by acting at epigenetic, transcriptional and post-transcriptional levels. In this review, we provide a state-of-the-art view of the functional contribution of long non-coding RNAs during cardiac and skeletal muscle development, highlighting the distinct molecular mechanisms currently described in these morphogenic processes.