Single-Cell RNA-Seq of the Developing Cardiac Outflow Tract Reveals Convergent Development of the Vascular Smooth Muscle Cells

Citations Over TimeTop 10% of 2019 papers

Abstract

Cardiac outflow tract (OFT) is a major hotspot for congenital heart diseases. A thorough understanding of the cellular diversity, transitions, and regulatory networks of normal OFT development is essential to decipher the etiology of OFT malformations. We performed single-cell transcriptomic sequencing of 55,611 mouse OFT cells from three developmental stages that generally correspond to the early, middle, and late stages of OFT remodeling and septation. Known cellular transitions, such as endothelial-to-mesenchymal transition, have been recapitulated. In particular, we identified convergent development of the vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) lineage where intermediate cell subpopulations were found to be involved in either myocardial-to-VSMC trans-differentiation or mesenchymal-to-VSMC transition. Finally, we uncovered transcriptional regulators potentially governing cellular transitions. Our study provides a single-cell reference map of cell states for normal OFT development and paves the way for further studies of the etiology of OFT malformations at the single-cell level.

Related Papers

• → Transcriptome analysis of human ageing in male skin shows mid-life period of variability and central role of NF-κB(2016)61 cited
• → Mesenchymal stem cell therapy in treatment of erectile dysfunction: Autologous or allogeneic cell sources?(2014)32 cited
• → Mesenchymal Stem/Stromal Cells: ASSESSING THE SAFETY AND TOXICITY OF VERY HIGH DOSES OF ALLOGENEIC HUMAN UMBILICAL CORD-DERIVED MESENCHYMAL STEM CELLS(2023)1 cited
• → Characterization of Early Developments in the Splenic Leukocyte Transcriptome of NOD Mice(2003)5 cited
• → Studying gene expression profiles in specialized brain regions by microSAGE(2000)