Cell Reports
Volume 22, Issue 3, 16 January 2018, Pages 600-610
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Article
Single-Cell Transcriptional Profiling Reveals Cellular Diversity and Intercommunication in the Mouse Heart

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2017.12.072Get rights and content
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Highlights

  • Comprehensive transcriptional profiling of non-myocyte cells in the adult mouse heart

  • Detection of major cell types and characterization of transcriptional heterogeneity

  • Development of tools for isolation of understudied cells, including mural cells and glia

  • Characterization of intercellular communication networks

Summary

Characterization of the cardiac cellulome, the network of cells that form the heart, is essential for understanding cardiac development and normal organ function and for formulating precise therapeutic strategies to combat heart disease. Recent studies have reshaped our understanding of cardiac cellular composition and highlighted important functional roles for non-myocyte cell types. In this study, we characterized single-cell transcriptional profiles of the murine non-myocyte cardiac cellular landscape using single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq). Detailed molecular analyses revealed the diversity of the cardiac cellulome and facilitated the development of techniques to isolate understudied cardiac cell populations, such as mural cells and glia. Our analyses also revealed extensive networks of intercellular communication and suggested prevalent sexual dimorphism in gene expression in the heart. This study offers insights into the structure and function of the mammalian cardiac cellulome and provides an important resource that will stimulate studies in cardiac cell biology.

Keywords

heart
single cell RNA-seq
mouse
sexual dimorphism
cell-cell communication
cardiac non-myocyte
10X
cell type markers
cellulome

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