Summary
We developed and analyzed a single cell scale anatomical map of the rat intrinsic cardiac nervous system (ICNS) across 4 male and 3 female hearts. We find the ICNS has a reliable structural organizational plan across individuals that may provide the foundation for further analyses of the ICNS in cardiac function and disease. The distribution of the ICNS was evaluated by 3D visualization and using data-driven clustering. The pattern, distribution and clustering of ICNS neurons across all male and female rat hearts is highly conserved, demonstrating a coherent organizational plan in which distinct clusters of neurons are consistently localized. Female hearts had fewer neurons, lower packing density and slightly reduced distribution, but with the same localization. We registered the anatomical data from each heart to a geometric scaffold, normalizing their 3D coordinates for the standardization of common anatomical planes and providing the path where multiple experimental results and data types can be integrated and compared.
Competing Interest Statement
M.H. and S.T. are paid employees at MBF Bioscience and are funded under the OT3OD025349, to create multi-scale, multi-organ, and multi-species SPARC map management as a part of the SPARC Data Portal. Strateos is a commercial entity, and the authors affiliated with them are company employees. The remaining authors declare no competing interests.
Footnotes
Added a section on Limitations of the Study Reorganized the Methods Reformatted References and Figures
