Mapping the Cell-Cell Interactions in Cardiovascular Diseases: A Single-Cell Atlas Perspective

Area of Science:

• Cardiovascular Biology
• Molecular Medicine
• Systems Biology

Background:

• Cell-cell interactions are crucial for cardiovascular homeostasis.
• Dysregulated communication among heart and vascular cells drives cardiovascular disease (CVD) pathogenesis, including inflammation and fibrosis.
• Recent transcriptomic technologies allow detailed mapping of cellular interactions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review major alterations in intercellular communication across cardiovascular pathologies.
• To highlight the role of disrupted cell crosstalk in cardiomyopathy, myocardial infarction, and heart failure.
• To provide insights into CVD mechanisms and guide targeted therapy development.

Main Methods:

• Systematic inference of intercellular communication using ligand-receptor analysis.
• Construction of detailed cellular atlases of the human heart and vasculature via single-cell and spatial transcriptomics.
• Summarization of disease-specific alterations in key signaling pathways.

Main Results:

• Identification of significant changes in cell-cell communication across various cardiovascular pathologies.
• Uncovering disease-specific alterations in critical signaling pathways.
• Demonstration of how altered crosstalk among vascular, stromal, and immune cells contributes to adverse cardiac remodeling and dysfunction.

Conclusions:

• Disrupted intercellular communication networks are central to cardiovascular disease.
• Understanding these molecular mechanisms offers novel therapeutic strategies for CVD.
• Targeting cell-cell communication pathways holds promise for restoring cardiovascular health.