ExpressHeart

ExpressHeart visualizes and integrates single-cell RNA-sequencing (scRNA-seq) transcriptome profiles of non-cardiomyocyte (nonCM) cells across multiple studies and species to enable marker-gene discovery and comparative analyses.

Key Features:

• Data Integration Across Studies: Consolidates scRNA-seq datasets from five distinct laboratories covering three species to enable cross-study comparisons of major cell types and subtypes.
• Visualization Options: Provides multiple visualization modes for gene expression across cell types and subtypes to examine transcriptomic patterns.
• Identification of Marker Genes: Identifies cell-type-specific and species-specific marker genes from scRNA-seq data.
• Cross-Dataset Analysis: Generates high-confidence differentially expressed gene (DEG) lists by intersecting DEGs across multiple datasets.
• Comparative Genomics Across Species: Enables cross-species comparisons of homolog expression, exemplified by differential expression of Mmp14 in mouse and mmp14b in zebrafish across cell types.

Scientific Applications:

• Heart Development Studies: Characterizes molecular features of nonCM cells relevant to cardiac development.
• Cardiac Disease Research: Supports identification of nonCM molecular signatures implicated in myocardial function and disease.
• Comparative and Evolutionary Analyses: Facilitates cross-species comparisons to study evolutionary divergence and species-specific adaptations in cardiac cell types.

Methodology:

Consolidates scRNA-seq datasets from five laboratories across three species; identifies marker genes and DEGs and generates high-confidence DEG lists by intersecting DEGs across datasets; compares homologous gene expression across species (for example, Mmp14 versus mmp14b).