(a–c) t-Stochastic Neighbor Embedding (t-SNE)
visualization of cell types present in the mouse aortic root at (a)
baseline, n=3 mice, (b) after 8 weeks of high-fat diet (HFD), n = 3
mice and (c) 16 weeks of HFD, n= 3 mice , illustrating the appearance of a
disease-specific cell type, the “modulated SMC” cluster. All cell
cluster identities are indicated in a-c. (d) SMC lineage traced
cells, identified by their expression of the tdT reporter gene
via FACS, are labeled in red for all timepoints. tdT+, cells expressing
tdT; tdt−, cells not expressing
tdT. (e) The top 8 genes defining each type of
cell cluster in (a–c) are listed. The size of each circle
represents the fraction of cells in each cluster that express at least 1
detected transcript of each gene; the color scale indicates expression level
(blue = low, red = high). (f) Percentage of cells of each cell type
that contained detectable (non-zero) Tcf21 levels at baseline,
8 weeks and 16 weeks of disease. Epi = epithelial-like cell.