Identification of Genetic Markers for Differentiating between Atrial, Ventricular, and Valvular Cardiac Fibroblasts

Cardiac fibroblasts secrete most of the extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins in the heart, which contributes towards preserving the heart’s 3D structure. However, in injury models, fibroblasts secrete excess ECM, resulting in cardiac fibrosis and the impairment of heart function. Although differences in cardiac fibrosis have been observed between different chambers, there is little research studying the differences between fibroblasts from different regions in the heart. Therefore, the purpose of this research is to identify genes that are differentially expressed between atrial, ventricular, and valvular cardiac fibroblasts. To determine genetic markers, RNA-sequencing was performed to identify potential genes of interest. Next, RNA was extracted from primary cells and used to synthesize cDNA through reverse transcription (RT). Primers were designed and validated for each gene, then used in the RT-qPCR process to determine quantitative differences of genes between cDNA from different primary cells. Future efforts will focus on further validating the potential genes of interest through immunocytochemistry (ICC). With these genetic markers, we can study cellular pathways that direct fibroblast differentiation and create an in vitro model that generates the fibroblast subtype of interest, which can be used for disease modeling and potential therapeutics.