Open AccessAge-dependent transcriptional alterations in cardiac endothelial cells
Author(s) -
Uchenna Emechebe,
Jonathan W. Nelson,
Nabil J. Alkayed,
Sanjiv Kaul,
Andrew Adey,
Anthony P. Barnes
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
physiological genomics/physiological genomics (print)
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.078
H-Index - 112
eISSN - 1531-2267
pISSN - 1094-8341
DOI - 10.1152/physiolgenomics.00037.2021
Subject(s) - biology , endothelial stem cell , receptor , gene expression , gene , population , microbiology and biotechnology , medicine , endocrinology , genetics , in vitro , environmental health
Aging is a significant risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Despite the fact that endothelial cells play critical roles in cardiovascular function and disease, the molecular impact of aging on this cell population in many organ systems remains unknown. In this study, we sought to determine age-associated transcriptional alterations in cardiac endothelial cells. Highly enriched populations of endothelial cells (ECs) isolated from the heart, brain, and kidney of young (3 mo) and aged (24 mo) C57/BL6 mice were profiled for RNA expression via bulk RNA sequencing. Approximately 700 cardiac endothelial transcripts significantly differ by age. Gene set enrichment analysis indicated similar patterns for cellular pathway perturbations. Receptor-ligand comparisons indicated parallel alterations in age-affected circulating factors and cardiac endothelial-expressed receptors. Gene and pathway enrichment analyses show that age-related transcriptional response of cardiac endothelial cells is distinct from that of endothelial cells derived from the brain or kidney vascular bed. Furthermore, single-cell analysis identified nine distinct EC subtypes and shows that the Apelin Receptor-enriched subtype is reduced with age in mouse heart. Finally, we identify age-dysregulated genes in specific aged cardiac endothelial subtypes.