RNA sequencing of aortic valves in CTRL, ECKO, SMKO and DKO mice

RNA sequencing was performed to compare the transcriptome of aortic valves among 4 mouse models: fibulin-4 (Fbln4; EFEMP2 gene) knockout in endothelial cells (EC) using Tie2Cre (ECKO), Fbln4 knockout in smooth muscle cells (SMC) using SM22Cre (SMKO), EC and SMC Fbln4 double knockout (DKO), and Fbln4loxp/+ and Fbln4+/+ with SM22Cre and/or Tie2Cre used as CTRL. At 2 months old, DKO mice showed significantly thickening aortic valve leaflets than other mouse models. Therefore, this experiment was used to investigate the function of Fbln4 in aortic valve development and Fbln4 role in EC. RNAseq analysis indicates differences in gene expression in aortic valves of DKO mice compared to other models, that is enriched with EndMT process and fibrosis progression. Overall design: mRNA expression in whole aortic valves were compared among CTRL, ECKO, SMKO and DKO at 2 months old. Biological triplicate was used for each model.