Transcriptomic Profiling of the Right Ventricle

Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a common, life-threatening disease, with risk factors including both genetic predispositions and several acquired factors. The condition starts with deep vein thrombosis (DVT) caused by the formation of a blood clot in a vein, and then, after the thrombus transits, develops into pulmonary embolism (PE). Given PE's substantial impact on right ventricular function, the study was designed to examine gene expression changes in the right ventricle associated with PE. The study was performed in 12 castrated male pigs; 6 animals served as the experimental group and the remaining 6 pigs served as controls. To replicate the natural development and progression of PE a thrombus was formed in vivo in the femoral vein and subsequently released 2 hours later to induce PE in the same animal, thus mimicking the natural process of thrombus formation and transit through the vascular system. Right ventricle wall tissue samples were collected 24 hours after thrombus release. Within both the experimental and control groups total RNA was isolated and high-throughput RNA sequencing was used to analyze the global changes in the transcriptome of the collected ventricle samples.