Regional transcriptomics of a human left atrium and implications for atrial fibrillation

Regional differential expression of atrial fibrillation risk genes in the left atrium and pulmonary veins is not well studied, but may yield insights into atrial fibrillation pathogenesis. We tested the hypothesis that there is significant regional differential expression in left atrium structures. RNAseq was performed in 25 regions within the pulmonary veins (n=12), left atrial body (n=10), and left atrial appendage (n=3) from a 75 year old male with hypertension and atrial fibrillation who died of a stroke. These data show that genes involved in atrial fibrillation pathogenesis have substantial regional expression heterogeneity, particularly when comparing the left atrial body, pulmonary veins and left atrial appendage. RNAseq was performed in 25 regions from the left atria of a single male patient.