Fig. 2

Segmental DEGs in EC and fibroblast subtypes without differences in the ratio of distribution. a The t-SNE suggested the proportion of EC subtypes among five segments without significant differences (P > 0.05). b, c The enriched genes of EC1 with high expression mainly focused on the AOAR and AA1 segments, including focal adhesion genes, such as Vcam1 and Icam2 in AOAR and ECM metabolism genes, such as Col3a1. I_1, I_2, I_3, I_4, and I_5 in X axes represented AOAR, TA2, TA2, AA1, and AA2, respectively. d The highly expressed genes of EC 2 were only enriched in AOAR including Smad4 and Scd1, among others. e Verification of Scarb2 expression in ECs across five segments showed that the expression of Scarb2 was enriched in the AOAR portion by immunofluorescent localization. The arrows and the partially enlarged images were used to indicate the expression of Scarb2 in ECs. Scale bar = 5 μm. f The distribution of two fibroblast subtypes across five segments was shown by t-SNE without a statistical difference (P > 0.05). The feature plots showed that the Fbn1⁺ cells colocalized with fibroblast 1 when compared to that with all the cell types. g Segmental gene heatmap of Fibro1 with a significant spatial difference. The collagen-related genes Col1a1 and Col3a1 were highly expressed in TA segments, whereas inflammation factors Il1r1 and Il6 showed higher expression in AA segments. h Regarding spatial distribution, Fbn1⁺ cells were mainly distributed in the thoracic part of the aorta, particularly in the first section, the AOAR. i The Fibro 2 expressed specific differential genes mainly focused in the AOAR portion, such as Tgfb1 and Mmp2. J Immunofluorescence staining showed that the expression of Fbn1 was high in the thoracic aorta, particularly in the aortic arch. Scale bar = 5 μm. Each experiment was repeated independently for a minimum of three times