Elaborate on the role of CARMEN in cardiac specification.
CARMEN, (CAR)diac (M)esoderm (E)nhancer-associated (N)oncoding RNA, is a human super enhancer-associated long noncoding RNA controlling cardiac specification, differentiation and homeostasis. CARMEN exhibits RNA-dependent enhancing activity and is upstream of the cardiac mesoderm-specifying gene regulatory network. CARMEN interacts with SUZ12 and EZH2, two components of the polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2). CARMEN expression is activated during pathological remodeling in the mouse and human hearts, and is necessary for maintaining cardiac identity in differentiated cardiomyocytes.