With the large-scale genome-wide sequencing, long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been found to compose of a large portion of the human transcriptome. Recent studies demonstrated the multidimensional functions of lncRNAs in heart development and disease. The subcellular localization of lncRNA is considered as a key factor that determines lncRNA function. Cytosolic lncRNAs mainly regulate mRNA stability, mRNA translation, miRNA processing and function, whereas nuclear lncRNAs epigenetically regulate chromatin remodeling, structure, and gene transcription. In this review, we summarize the molecular mechanisms of cytosolic and nuclear lncRNAs in heart development and disease separately, and emphasize the recent progress to dictate the crosstalk of cytosolic and nuclear lncRNAs in orchestrating the same biological process. Given the low evolutionary conservation of most lncRNAs, deeper understanding of human lncRNA will uncover a new layer of human regulatory mechanism underlying heart development and disease, and benefit the future clinical treatment for human heart disease.

随着大规模全基因组测序，已发现长链非编码 RNA (lncRNA) 构成了人类转录组的很大一部分。最近的研究证明了 lncRNA 在心脏发育和疾病中的多维功能。lncRNA的亚细胞定位被认为是决定lncRNA功能的关键因素。细胞溶质 lncRNA 主要调节 mRNA 稳定性、mRNA 翻译、miRNA 加工和功能，而核 lncRNA 表观遗传调节染色质重塑、结构和基因转录。在这篇综述中，我们分别总结了细胞溶质和核lncRNAs在心脏发育和疾病中的分子机制，并强调了最近的进展，以决定细胞溶质和核lncRNAs在协调相同的生物学过程中的串扰。