Spatial Gene Expression of Human Coronary Arteries Revealed the Molecular Features of Diffuse Intimal Thickening in Explanted Hearts

Diffuse intimal thickening (DIT) is a preclinical stage of atherogenesis in humans that does not exist in commonly used mouse models of atherosclerosis. Vascular smooth muscle cells (SMCs) are the predominant cell type that occupies the intimal and medial layers of human coronary arteries. The intimal layer of DIT is particularly prone to developing atherosclerosis later in life. Differences in the molecular features between the intimal and medial layers of DIT regions may represent the earliest changes that promote atherogenesis in humans, and can be studied by spatial molecular phenotyping. With six coronary artery samples (three from autopsies, three from freshly explanted hearts) from formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissue sections, Visium was used to obtain whole transcriptome profiles of the intimal and medial layers of these blood vessels. Post Visium-sequencing, one sample (Sample2d1) was removed from downstream analysis as it failed to pass our quality control.