Evolutionarily conserved transcriptional landscape of the heart defining the chamber specific physiology

S. Gandhi, A. Witten, F. De Majo, M. Gilbers, J. Maessen, U. Schotten, L.J. de Windt, M. Stoll*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) remains the leading cause of death worldwide. A deeper characterization of regional transcription patterns within different heart chambers may aid to improve our understanding of the molecular mechanisms involved in myocardial function and further, our ability to develop novel therapeutic strategies. Here, we used RNA sequencing to determine differentially expressed protein coding (PC) and long non-coding (lncRNA) transcripts within the heart chambers across seven vertebrate species and identified evolutionarily conserved chamber specific genes, lncRNAs and pathways. We investigated lncRNA homologs based on sequence, secondary structure, synteny and expressional conservation and found most lncRNAs to be conserved by synteny. Regional co-expression patterns of transcripts are modulated by multiple factors, including genomic overlap, strandedness and transcript biotype. Finally, we provide a community resource designated EvoACTG, which informs researchers on the conserved yet intertwined nature of the coding and non-coding cardiac transcriptome across popular model organisms in CVD research.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)3782-3792
Number of pages11
JournalGenomics
Volume113
Issue number6
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Nov 2021

Keywords

  • Cardiac transcriptome
  • Chamber specificity
  • lncRNA conservation
  • LONG NONCODING RNAS
  • GENE-EXPRESSION
  • PROFILES
  • PATTERNS
  • DATABASE
  • ATRIAL

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