Using genetic diversity to understand cardiac health
PUBLICATIONS
We work hard to publish our work in journals that are the best home to distribute our work to the scientific community (we certainly are not "CNS" snobs). Read below for a few highlights or check the link to our bibliography on PubMed for a full listing.

SINGLE-NUCLEAR RNA SEQUENCING OF ENDOMYOCARDIAL BIOPSIES IDENTIFIES PERSISTENCE OF DONOR-RECIPIENT CHIMERISM WITH DISTINCT SIGNATURES IN SEVERE CARDIAC ALLOGRAFT VASCULOPATHY
Circulation Heart Failure, January 2023
How low can you go when it comes to input material for snRNAseq? In collaboration with some great colleagues at Vanderbilt University (Kaushik Amancherla) and UCSF (Javid Moslehi), we profiled single nucleus RNA profiling of endocardial biopsies during rejection. Inputs as low as 3mg!!! were successfully used for analysis of cell composition, gene expression, and donor/recipient lineage. Look for more to come in the future. Read the full paper here.

A BEARY GOOD GENOME: HAPLOTYPE-RESOLVED, CHROMOSOME-LEVEL ASSEMBLY OF THE BROWN BEAR (URSUS ARCTOS)
Genome Biology & Evolution, September 2022
Need a genome to do molecular analysis on a non-model organism? Just make a new one. Co-led with Joanna Kelley's team at WSU (special thanks to Ellie Armstrong), this new genome assembly should enable our downstream work on cardiac adaptations to hibernation. Added plus: The title is something we are very proud of.

SINGLE-NUCLEUS PROFILING OF HUMAN DILATED AND HYPERTROPHIC CARDIOMYOPATHY
Nature, June 22, 2022
Single nucleus RNA sequencing of late stage heart failure reveals a transcriptional convergence of differing etiologies of cardiomyopathy. Read more about molecular insights into heart failure and fibroblast activation here. Data may be found on the Single Cell Portal.

CLINICO-HISTOPATHOLOGIC AND SINGLE-NUCLEI RNA-SEQUENCING INSIGHTS INTO CARDIAC INJURY AND MICROTHROMBI IN CRITICAL COVID-19
JCI Insight January 25, 2022
Formation of microthrombi are the most prominent clinical feature of severe COVID-19 infection in the heart. We partnered with Emily Tsai, MD of Columbia University to perform single nucleus RNA sequencing on a cohort of myocardial samples with and without microthrombi. Notably, we observed a key role for fibroblast activation only within those tissue with microthrombi suggesting critical pathways for microthrombus formation and maintenance that may not be targeted with typical antithrombotics. Read the full paper in JCI Insight and find the data on the Single Cell Portal.

TRANSCRIPTIONAL AND CELLULAR DIVERSITY OF THE HUMAN HEART
Circulation, August 4, 2020
The largest survey of human single nuclear transcriptomes at the time encompassing nearly 300,000 nuclei from all four chambers of seven donors. Ultimately, this work is a culmination of wonderful collaboration between academic and pharmaceutical labs to uncover novel biology. The field moves fast, and we continue to implement new approaches to improve upon this work. Read the full manuscript here and access our data at the Single Cell Portal.

MYOCYTE-SPECIFIC UPREGULATION OF ACE2 IN CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE: IMPLICATIONS FOR SARS-COV-2-MEDIATED MYOCARDITIS
Circulation, August 2020
When COVID-19 struck, our lab quickly pivoted to both serve as a clinical testing laboratory for the local community hospital (MVHS) and to understand the cardiac complications associated with COVID-19 infection. Here we report on the distribution of the COVID receptor from our single nucleus sequencing data, examine changes associated with disease status, and determine the effects of anti-hypertensive medications. Read the full letter here.
