Identification of non-cardiomyocytes marker genes in patients with diabetes and cardiomyopathy through single-cell analysis

by Wenze Yu, Hanglie Chen, Lihua Shi, Guofang Gao, Haihua Wang Background Diabetic cardiomyopathy (DCM) is a diabetes-related myocardial disorder causing fibrosis, hypertrophy, and progressive diastolic and systolic dysfunction. This study aims to explore how metabolic, inflammatory, and fibrotic mechanisms in non-cardiomyocytes drive DCM to reveal new therapeutic targets.

Methods Single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) was performed to investigate the role of non-cardiomyocytes in DCM, enabling the identification of cell types, gene expression dynamics, and intercellular communication networks in patients with type 2 diabetes. The scRNA-seq data were obtained from the GEO to investigate cell-type-specific contributions and heterogeneity across tissues.

Metabolic pathway scores were calculated using scMetabolism. Moreover, cell trajectory analysis and cellular communication studies were performed to examine shared and disease-specific cell populations in diabetes and cardiomyopathy.

CCK-8, colony formation, Transwell migration and invasion assays were preformed to explore the function of PTPRC in HUVECs. Results Using SingleR annotation, we identified eight distinct cell types, with NK cells and smooth muscle cells representing the shared cell populations across both diseases.