Human Cardiac Transcription Factor Networks

The heart is a complex organ, the development of which is coordinated by an intricate network of transcription factors (TFs). Decades of research in developmental biology, and using several different model systems have unravelled the role of these TFs during cardiogenesis. However, the role of TFs during human heart development and their contribution to cardiac disease are difficult to assess. The emergence of human model systems such as cardiomyocytes derived from human embryonic or induced pluripotent stem cells now allow dissecting the cardiac gene regulatory network in humans. Here we review cardiac transcription factors, that have been described to play a role in heart development, with an emphasis on their known role in a human model.