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 conditions such as cardiac hypertrophy and atherosclerosis. Homeobox genes encode transcription factors that have been shown to be regulators of body-plan formation, cell growth, differentiation, and region-specific cell migration in developing embryos. Recently, several homeobox genes have been either isolated from or detected in cardiovascular tissues, and evidence suggests that some of them may have a regulatory function in the cardiovascular system. We review here what is known about the role of homeobox transcription factors in the control of development and gene expression in the cardiovascular system.