Smooth muscle cell-specific Klf4 deletion in Marfan syndrome aortic root aneurysm

Aortic smooth muscle cell (SMC) phenotype modulation is a central feature of cell-mediated pathology in Marfan syndrome aortic aneurysm and Klf4 is proposed to contribute to this process. We generated mice with smooth muscle cell-specific Klf4 deletion using an Myh11-creERT2 transgene, induced deletion at 8 weeks and performed single cell RNA sequencing at 24 weeks on whole aortic root tissues. Overall design: Three experimental groups (Littermate Control, Fbn1-C1041G/+ Marfan syndrome (MFS), and MFS with induced Klf4 deletion) are included. Within each strain, with separate single cell RNA libraries are incuded for lineage-traced SMC populations and non-SMC subsets based on fluorescent sorting.