Temporal transcriptional changes in human monocytes following acute myocardial infarction: The GerMIFs monocyte expression study

Monocytes play a central role in the inflammatory response that follows acute myocardial infarction (MI). In order to study phenotypic adaptation of this cell type, we investigated patterns of monocyte gene expression in circulating monocytes at various stages of MI. Circulating monocytes were isolated from venous blood of MI patients at three time points: t1: within 6 hours after onset of chest pain (acute phase), t2: 3 days after MI (subacute phase), t3: 90 days after MI (chronic phase). For comparison, we studied a control group (n=21, data to be submitted later) with stable coronary artery disease. Using this transcriptomic analysis, we aimed to provide a more comprehensive reference of monocyte biology following acute MI and to aid in the identification of novel pathways and genes influencing the course of MI. Monocytes play a central role in the inflammatory response that follows acute myocardial infarction (MI). In order to study phenotypic adaptation of this cell type, we investigated patterns of monocyte gene expression in circulating monocytes at various stages of MI. Circulating monocytes were isolated from venous blood of MI patients at three time points: t1: within 6 hours after onset of chest pain (acute phase), t2: 3 days after MI (subacute phase), t3: 90 days after MI (chronic phase). For comparison, we studied a control group (n=21, data to be submitted later) with stable coronary artery disease. Illumina Ref-8 v3.0 microarray arrays were used for whole-genome transcriptional profiling.