Uncovering the heterogeneity of cardiac lin⁻kit⁺ cells: A scrna-seq study on the identification of subpopulations

The reparative potential of cardiac Lin^–KIT⁺ (KIT) cells is influenced by their population, but identifying their markers is challenging due to changes in phenotype during in vitro culture. Resolving this issue requires uncovering cell heterogeneity and discovering new subpopulations. Single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) can identify KIT cell subpopulations, their markers, and signaling pathways. We used 10× genomic scRNA-seq to analyze cardiac-derived cells from adult mice and found 3 primary KIT cell populations: KIT1, characterized by high-KIT expression (KIT^HI), represents a population of cardiac endothelial cells; KIT2, which has low-KIT expression (KIT^LO), expresses transcription factors such as KLF4, MYC, and GATA6, as well as genes involved in the regulation of angiogenic cytokines; KIT3, with moderate KIT expression (KIT^MOD), expresses the cardiac transcription factor MEF2C and mesenchymal cell markers such as ENG. Cell-cell communication network analysis predicted the presence of the 3 KIT clusters as signal senders and receivers, including VEGF, CXCL, and BMP signaling. Metabolic analysis showed that KIT1 has the low activity of glycolysis and oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS), KIT2 has high glycolytic activity, and KIT3 has high OXPHOS and fatty acid degradation activity, indicating distinct metabolic adaptations of the 3 KIT populations. Through the systemic infusion of KIT1 cells in a mouse model of myocardial infarction, we observed their involvement in promoting the formation of new micro-vessels. In addition, in vitro spheroid culture experiments demonstrated the cardiac differentiation capacity of KIT2 cells.