CITED Proteins in the Heart of Pluripotent Cells and in Heart’s Full Potential

The CITED family of transcriptional modulators plays multiple roles in the development of vertebrates. These proteins are characterized by the conservation of a carboxy-terminal domain which defines this family and has a high affinity for the transcriptional co-activators CBP/p300. In humans, mutations in some CITED genes or deregulation of their expression are associated with developmental anomalies. In particular, CITED2 dysfunction has been associated with congenital heart disease. Although most studies have reported the critical function of CITED proteins during development, there is increasing evidence supporting an important role for these proteins in physiological functions of adult organisms and pathologies such as cardiomyopathies and cancer. In addition, recent studies have pointed out the involvement of CITED proteins in embryonic and adult stem cells self-renewal, and cell fate decisions. Here, we present an overview of the CITED transcriptional modulators, their protein interactors and gene networks, with an emphasis on their importance in pluripotent stem cells and cardiogenesis.