Single cell transcriptomic analysis of aorta in diabetes associated atherosclerosis

Background and Aims: Different cell populations of arteries such as vascular smooth muscle cells, endothelial cells and immune cells undergo specific gene expression changes during the process of atherosclerosis development. Recently, application of single cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) on leukocytes has identified 11-13 distinct immune cell populations and their transcriptional landscape in atherosclerosis prone mice. Since, diabetes accelerates atherosclerosis development, we have extended this approach by applying scRNA-seq to all aortic cells with the specific aim to identify cell specific gene expression signature of the diabetic aorta.