Using Next Generation Sequencing to identify molecular pathways that are regulated by cardiac lymphatics during heart development

Our study has identified a novel regulatory role of cardiac lymphatics in heart development, particularly in cardiomyocyte proliferation and survival. To investigate the molecular basis of this cardiac lymphatics-dependent effects, We then performed RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) of the ventricular portions of E17.5 controls and Prox1 conditional nulls (embryos devoid of cardiac lymphatic development). Gene set expression analysis (GSEA) revealed that in Prox1 conditional null hearts, genes and pathways related to cell cycle were greatly reduced; instead, expression of genes and pathways involved in apoptosis were enriched. Our study has identified a novel regulatory role of cardiac lymphatics in heart development, particularly in cardiomyocyte proliferation and survival. To investigate the molecular basis of this cardiac lymphatics-dependent effects, We then performed RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) of the ventricular portions of E17.5 controls and Prox1 conditional nulls (embryos devoid of cardiac lymphatic development). Gene set expression analysis (GSEA) revealed that in Prox1 conditional null hearts, genes and pathways related to cell cycle were greatly reduced; instead, expression of genes and pathways involved in apoptosis were enriched. Overall design: heart ventricular mRNA profiles of E17.5 control and Prox1 conditional nulls