Single cell RNA-Seq of the mouse heart in response to chronic stress

We characterized single-cell transcriptional profiles of heart ventricles of C57BL/6J female and male mice subjected to a chronic stress, two weeks of continuous administration of Angiotensin II. The cell preparation we sequenced consisted of metabolically active, nucleated non-myocyte cells which were depleted of endothelial cells, mixed with nuclei isolated from cardiomyocytes. The goal of this experiment included characterizing cellular diversity in stressed and unstressed hearts, uncovering potential drivers of cardiac fibrosis and hypertrophy, and quantifying sexual dimorphism in cardiac gene expression.