Class I Homeobox Genes, “The Rosetta Stone of the Cell Biology”, in the Regulation of Cardiovascular Development

Class I homeobox genes (Hox in mice and HOX in humans), encode for 39 transcription factors and display a unique genomic network organization mainly involved in the regulation of embryonic development and in the cell memory program. The HOX network controls the aberrant epigenetic modifications involving in the cell memory program. In details, the HOX cluster plays a crucial role in the generation and evolution of several diseases: congenic malformation, oncogenesis, metabolic processes and deregulation of cell cycle. In this review, I discussed about the role of HOX gene network in the control of cardiovascular development.