Single-cell sequencing identifies Cytoskeleton-Associated Protein 4 as a novel modulator of cardiac fibroblast activation, highlighting a potential new therapeutic target for heart disease.
Single-cell sequencing on both the healthy and diseased adult heart allows us to study transcriptomic differences between cardiac cells, as well as cell type-specific changes in gene expression during cardiac disease. This new approach provides a wealth of novel insights into molecular changes that underlie the cellular processes relevant for cardiac biology and pathophysiology. Applying this technology could lead to the discovery of new therapeutic targets relevant for heart disease.
Gladka et al. (2018) studied this question.