Single-cell transcriptomic dynamics of scallop heart reveals the heterogeneous response to heat stress

Abstract Background Animals with open circulatory systems are highly vulnerable to environmental temperature fluctuations, making them particularly threatened by global warming. However, research on the cellular heterogeneity of heart responses to elevated temperatures in animals with open circulato...

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Main Authors: Danyang Wang, Na Liu, Xiangfu Kong, Xinghai Zhu, Yangfan Wang, Jingjie Hu, Zhenmin Bao
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMC 2025-04-01
Series:BMC Biology
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Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1186/s12915-025-02210-1
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author Danyang Wang
Na Liu
Xiangfu Kong
Xinghai Zhu
Yangfan Wang
Jingjie Hu
Zhenmin Bao
author_facet Danyang Wang
Na Liu
Xiangfu Kong
Xinghai Zhu
Yangfan Wang
Jingjie Hu
Zhenmin Bao
author_sort Danyang Wang
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Background Animals with open circulatory systems are highly vulnerable to environmental temperature fluctuations, making them particularly threatened by global warming. However, research on the cellular heterogeneity of heart responses to elevated temperatures in animals with open circulatory systems remains limited. Results Here, we conducted a comprehensive investigation of the morphology, metabolism and scRNA-seq of the heart in a molluscan model, Argopecten irradians, under heat stress. Our results unraveled that the severity of cardiac structure damage increased progressively with rising temperature, accompanied by widespread mitochondrial dysfunction and neurohumoral response. We identified two subpopulations within cardiomyocytes (CMs), including ventricular myocytes (VMs) and atrial myocytes (AMs), which exhibited specialized functional roles in response to thermal stress. Specifically, AMs enhanced cell–cell communications with the immune-like cells and fibroblasts to contribute to maintaining cardiac homeostasis under heat stress. Whereas, VMs displayed enhanced energy supply and differentiation potential to withstand thermal challenges. Furthermore, RNA interference targeting the most heat-responsive gene, PLRP2-like, resulted in a significant reduction in heat tolerance and triglyceride accumulation in scallops. Conclusions Our study investigated the heterogeneous response of the scallop heart to high temperatures, revealing distinct response patterns between VMs and AMs. We further identified a key gene, AiPLRP2-like, which exhibits unique cellular localization patterns compared to its mammalian counterpart and may play a pivotal role in regulating cardiac thermotolerance in organisms with open circulatory systems. These findings provide novel insights into the theoretical framework and evolutionary adaptations of marine invertebrate hearts in response to environmental temperature fluctuations.
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issn 1741-7007
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spelling doaj-art-1bb650e016924f71a2a3eae3a1983bb92025-08-20T02:24:30ZengBMCBMC Biology1741-70072025-04-0123112010.1186/s12915-025-02210-1Single-cell transcriptomic dynamics of scallop heart reveals the heterogeneous response to heat stressDanyang Wang0Na Liu1Xiangfu Kong2Xinghai Zhu3Yangfan Wang4Jingjie Hu5Zhenmin Bao6MOE Key Laboratory of Marine Genetics and Breeding, College of Marine Life Sciences, Ocean University of ChinaMOE Key Laboratory of Marine Genetics and Breeding, College of Marine Life Sciences, Ocean University of ChinaMOE Key Laboratory of Marine Genetics and Breeding, College of Marine Life Sciences, Ocean University of ChinaMOE Key Laboratory of Marine Genetics and Breeding, College of Marine Life Sciences, Ocean University of ChinaMOE Key Laboratory of Marine Genetics and Breeding, College of Marine Life Sciences, Ocean University of ChinaMOE Key Laboratory of Marine Genetics and Breeding, College of Marine Life Sciences, Ocean University of ChinaMOE Key Laboratory of Marine Genetics and Breeding, College of Marine Life Sciences, Ocean University of ChinaAbstract Background Animals with open circulatory systems are highly vulnerable to environmental temperature fluctuations, making them particularly threatened by global warming. However, research on the cellular heterogeneity of heart responses to elevated temperatures in animals with open circulatory systems remains limited. Results Here, we conducted a comprehensive investigation of the morphology, metabolism and scRNA-seq of the heart in a molluscan model, Argopecten irradians, under heat stress. Our results unraveled that the severity of cardiac structure damage increased progressively with rising temperature, accompanied by widespread mitochondrial dysfunction and neurohumoral response. We identified two subpopulations within cardiomyocytes (CMs), including ventricular myocytes (VMs) and atrial myocytes (AMs), which exhibited specialized functional roles in response to thermal stress. Specifically, AMs enhanced cell–cell communications with the immune-like cells and fibroblasts to contribute to maintaining cardiac homeostasis under heat stress. Whereas, VMs displayed enhanced energy supply and differentiation potential to withstand thermal challenges. Furthermore, RNA interference targeting the most heat-responsive gene, PLRP2-like, resulted in a significant reduction in heat tolerance and triglyceride accumulation in scallops. Conclusions Our study investigated the heterogeneous response of the scallop heart to high temperatures, revealing distinct response patterns between VMs and AMs. We further identified a key gene, AiPLRP2-like, which exhibits unique cellular localization patterns compared to its mammalian counterpart and may play a pivotal role in regulating cardiac thermotolerance in organisms with open circulatory systems. These findings provide novel insights into the theoretical framework and evolutionary adaptations of marine invertebrate hearts in response to environmental temperature fluctuations.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12915-025-02210-1Open circulatory systemsMollusksHeartHeat stressScRNA-seqPLRP2
spellingShingle Danyang Wang
Na Liu
Xiangfu Kong
Xinghai Zhu
Yangfan Wang
Jingjie Hu
Zhenmin Bao
Single-cell transcriptomic dynamics of scallop heart reveals the heterogeneous response to heat stress
BMC Biology
Open circulatory systems
Mollusks
Heart
Heat stress
ScRNA-seq
PLRP2
title Single-cell transcriptomic dynamics of scallop heart reveals the heterogeneous response to heat stress
title_full Single-cell transcriptomic dynamics of scallop heart reveals the heterogeneous response to heat stress
title_fullStr Single-cell transcriptomic dynamics of scallop heart reveals the heterogeneous response to heat stress
title_full_unstemmed Single-cell transcriptomic dynamics of scallop heart reveals the heterogeneous response to heat stress
title_short Single-cell transcriptomic dynamics of scallop heart reveals the heterogeneous response to heat stress
title_sort single cell transcriptomic dynamics of scallop heart reveals the heterogeneous response to heat stress
topic Open circulatory systems
Mollusks
Heart
Heat stress
ScRNA-seq
PLRP2
url https://doi.org/10.1186/s12915-025-02210-1
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