RNA-seq analysis of rat cardiac fibroblast transcriptome at three distinct developmental ages

The purpose of this study was to map the cardiac fibroblast transcriptome at three distinct developmental ages to investigate age-dependent gene expression differences in these cells, which are critically important to extracellular matrix turnover and repair, the inflammatory process, and cardiac remodeling after injury. To do so we isolated RNA from Sprague Dawley rats at fetal, neonatal, and adult developmental stages and performed RNA-seq. Overall, we identified an array of transcriptomic differences with respect to developmental age that suggests that CFs increase expression of immune- and inflammation-associated genes with age, with a decrease in cardiac development-associated genes and pathways. These results reinforce established evidence of phenotypic heternogenity of CFs with respect to age.