The RNA-seq of circular RNA in hearts from rats

The ligation of the left anterior descending coronary artery (LAD) was utilized to establish the rat heart failure model. Based on the echocardiographic measurements and general shapes of hearts, rats were classified into 3 groups (3 rats/group): control group (Ctrl, without surgery; LVEF > 55%, 1.6mm< LVPW < 2.8mm and 25% < FS < 46%), compensatory group (Comp, with surgery; LVEF > 55%, LVPW > 2.8mm and 25% < FS < 46%) and decompensatory group (Decomp, with surgery; LVEF < 55%, LVPW < 1.6mm and FS < 25%). the same amount of total RNA extracted from the heart in each group was mixed into CTRL-MIX, COMP-MIX, and DECOMP-MIX, respectively to reduce the individual variation; then they were high-throughput sequenced to examine the circRNA expression.