IFNγ activates an immune-like regulatory network in the cardiac vascular endothelium

Abstract

The regulatory mechanisms underlying the response to pro-inflammatory cytokines in cardiac diseases are poorly understood. Here, we use iPSC-derived cardiovascular progenitor cells (CVPCs) to model the response to interferon gamma (IFNγ) in human cardiac tissue. We generate RNA-seq and ATAC-seq for four CVPCs that were treated with IFNγ and compare them with paired untreated controls. Transcriptional differences after treatment show that IFNγ initiates an innate immune cell-like response, shifts the CVPC transcriptome toward coronary artery and aorta profiles, and stimulates expression of endothelial cell-specific genes. Analysis of the accessible chromatin shows that IFNγ is a potent chromatin remodeler and establishes an IRF-STAT immune-cell like regulatory network. Finally, we show that 11 GWAS risk variants for 8 common cardiac diseases overlap IFNγ-upregulated ATAC-seq peaks. Our findings reveal insights into IFNγ-induced activation of an immune-like regulatory network in human cardiac tissue and the potential role that regulatory elements in this pathway play in common cardiac diseases.