Single Cell RNA Sequencing Reveals the Pathogenesis of Aortic Dissection Caused by Hypertension and Marfan Syndrome

Li Zhang; Zhihuang Qiu; Hui Zheng; Xi Yang; Jianqiang Ye; Jian He; Yumei Li; Liangwan Chen

doi:10.3389/fcell.2022.880320

Single Cell RNA Sequencing Reveals the Pathogenesis of Aortic Dissection Caused by Hypertension and Marfan Syndrome

Front Cell Dev Biol. 2022 Jun 21:10:880320. doi: 10.3389/fcell.2022.880320. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Li Zhang^{1

2}, Zhihuang Qiu¹, Hui Zheng¹, Xi Yang¹, Jianqiang Ye³, Jian He¹, Yumei Li^{1

3}, Liangwan Chen¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Cardiac Surgery, Fujian Medical University Union Hospital, Fuzhou, China.
² The Key Laboratory of Fujian Province Universities on Ion Channel and Signal Transduction in Cardiovascular Diseases, The School of Basic Medical Sciences, Fuzhou, China.
³ Fujian Center for Safety Evaluation of New Drug, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, China.

Abstract

Aortic dissection (AD) is mainly caused by hypertension and Marfan syndrome. However, it is unclear whether the cellular components and functions are different between the two causes. A total of 11 aortic samples were collected for single-cell RNA analysis and 20 clusters were disclosed, including VSMCs, fibroblasts, endothelial cells, T cells, B cells, monocytes, macrophages, mast cells, and neutrophils components. There were differences in cell subclusters and function between hypertension and Marfan patients. The cells also had different differentiations. Cellchat identified cell ligand-receptor interactions that were associated with hypertension and Marfan-induced AD involving SMC, fibroblast, mo-macrophages, and T-cell subsets. This study revealed the heterogeneity of cellular components and gene changes in hypertension and Marfan-induced AD. Through functional analysis and the changes in intercellular communication, the possible mechanisms of different causes of AD were explained from a new perspective, so we can better understand the occurrence and development of diseases.

Keywords: RNA velocity; aortic dissection; cell heterogeneity; cell-cell communication; single-cell RNA sequencing.