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Distinct features of the regenerating heart uncovered through comparative single-cell profiling

ABSTRACT: Adult humans respond to heart injury by forming a permanent scar, yet other vertebrates are capable of robust and complete cardiac regeneration. Despite progress towards characterizing the mechanisms of cardiac regeneration in fish and amphibians, the large evolutionary gulf between mammals and regenerating vertebrates complicates deciphering which cellular and molecular features truly enable regeneration. To better define these features, we compared cardiac injury responses in zebrafish and medaka, two fish species that share similar heart anatomy and common teleost ancestry but differ in regenerative capability. We used single-cell transcriptional profiling to create a time-resolved comparative cell atlas of injury responses in all major cardiac cell types across both species. With this approach, we identified several key features that distinguish cardiac injury response in the non-regenerating medaka heart. By comparing immune responses to injury, we found altered cell recruitment and a distinct pro-inflammatory gene program in medaka leukocytes, and an absence of the injury-induced interferon response seen in zebrafish. In addition, we found a lack of pro-regenerative signals, including nrg1 and retinoic acid, from medaka endothelial and epicardial cells. Finally, we identified alterations in the myocardial structure in medaka, where they lack primordial layer cardiomyocytes and fail to employ a cardioprotective gene program shared by regenerating vertebrates. Our findings reveal notable variation in injury response across nearly all major cardiac cell types in zebrafish and medaka, demonstrating how evolutionary divergence influences the hidden cellular features underpinning regenerative potential in these seemingly similar vertebrates.

ORGANISM(S): Danio rerio Oryzias latipes

PROVIDER: GSE262689 | GEO | 2024/03/28

REPOSITORIES: GEO

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Project description:Heart failure results from the inability of the human heart to replenish damaged tissue after myocardial infarction (MI), forming an unresolved scar which leads to functional impairment and tissue remodeling. Unlike humans, many animals, including certain fish and amphibians, are able to regenerate their hearts. Comparative analyses have been performed in many model systems including zebrafish (Danio rerio), with the goal to identify factors that could promote cardiac regeneration in humans. However, profound physiological differences between regenerative and non-regenerative models often make it difficult to extract informative data that are directly relevant to cardiac regeneration. Recently, medaka (Oryzias latipes), another fresh water teleost, has been reported to lack activation of neovascularization and cardiomyocyte (CM) proliferation post cardiac injury, and to display excessive fibrosis and an unresolved scar. This finding constitutes a unique opportunity to directly compare reparative responses to cardiac injury between regenerative (zebrafish) and non-regenerative (medaka) models with common physiological condition and anatomical structures, as well as phylogenetically close orthologous genes. Here we investigate potential triggers that promote heart regeneration using a comparative transcriptomic analysis between zebrafish and medaka. We generated a detailed dataset containing more than 15000 orthologous genes, covering multiple time points in the first week after cardiac injury. Analyses based on gene ontology revealed that differential responses in processes such as the immune response and angiogenesis exist between the two models. Pathway analyses further suggested potential candidates accounting for these differential responses including the Toll-like receptor agonist poly I:C. Altogether, these data provide further insight into the complex role of the immune response during regeneration, and serve as a platform to identify and test additional regulators of cardiac repair.

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Distinct features of the regenerating heart uncovered through comparative single-cell profiling

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