Chromatin remodellers Brg1 and Baf60c in heart development

Cigarette smoking is a major risk factor for cardiovascular diseases and annually, an estimated 5 million people die from tobacco smoke-related illness worldwide. Further, tobacco smoking during pregnancy is implicated in defective heart development and fetal congenital heart diseases. While the association between chronic smoking and cardiovascular disease is well established, the underlying mechanisms are not completely understood. In the adult heart, it is now known that genes involved in controlling disease-related genes are abnormally regulated. One of the ways that genes are regulated is by the DNA’s arrangement in our chromosomes, and one important heart disease gene controls this. I propose to explore how these gene regulatory circuits work to ensure that normal heart formation takes place, and hopefully how this goes awry in congenital heart disease.This knowledge will help in finding suitable early intervention against cardiac diseases caused by use of tobacco products.