Cardiac development and function are becoming increasingly well understood from different angles, including signalling, transcriptional and epigenetic mechanisms. By contrast, the importance of the post-transcriptional landscape of cardiac biology largely remains to be uncovered, building on the foundation of a few existing paradigms. The discovery during the past decade of hundreds of additional RNA-binding proteins in mammalian cells and organs, including the heart, is expected to accelerate progress and has raised intriguing possibilities for better understanding the intricacies of cardiac development, metabolism and adaptive alterations. In this Review, we discuss the progress and new concepts on RNA-binding proteins and RNA biology and appraise them in the context of common cardiovascular clinical conditions, from cell and organ-wide perspectives. We also discuss how a better understanding of cardiac RNA-binding proteins can fill crucial knowledge gaps in cardiology and might pave the way to developing better treatments to reduce cardiovascular morbidity and mortality.

人们从不同的角度，包括信号传导、转录和表观遗传机制，对心脏的发育和功能越来越了解。相比之下，在一些现有范式的基础上，心脏生物学转录后景观的重要性在很大程度上仍有待揭示。过去十年在哺乳动物细胞和器官（包括心脏）中发现了数百种额外的RNA结合蛋白，预计将加速进展，并为更好地理解心脏发育、新陈代谢和适应性改变的复杂性提供了有趣的可能性。在这篇综述中，我们讨论了 RNA 结合蛋白和 RNA 生物学的进展和新概念，并从细胞和器官范围的角度在常见心血管临床病症的背景下对其进行评估。我们还讨论了如何更好地了解心脏 RNA 结合蛋白可以填补心脏病学的关键知识空白，并可能为开发更好的治疗方法以降低心血管发病率和死亡率铺平道路。