Targeting LncRNAs in Cardiovascular Disease: Options and Expeditions

Nucleic acid-based therapeutics constitutes the next frontier in cardiovascular disease (CVD) management. Recent findings have shown a strong regulatory role of a new class of non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) known as long ncRNAs (lncRNAs), on biological pathways, cell function, and cardiovascular tissue homeostasis in health and disease. Accumulating studies demonstrate that lncRNAs may regulate protein-coding genes, RNAs, and epigenetic factors in a tight spatial and temporal manner. Herein, we discuss key technical hurdles, current limitations and challenges as well as advantages and disadvantages of emerging experimental methods in the lncRNA field.