Enhancer and Promoter Usage in the Normal and Failed Human Heart

The failed heart is characterized by re-expression of a fetal gene program, which contributes to adaptation and maladaptation in heart failure. To define genomewide enhancer and promoter use in heart failure, Cap Analysis of Gene Expression (CAGE-seq) was applied to healthy and failed human left ventricles to define short RNAs associated with both promoters and enhancers. Integration of CAGE-seq data with RNA sequencing identified a combined ~17,000 promoters and ~1,500 enhancers active in healthy and failed human left ventricles. Comparing promoter usage between healthy and failed hearts highlighted promoter shifts which altered amino-terminal protein sequences. Comparing enhancer usage between healthy and failed hearts revealed a majority of differentially utilized heart failure enhancers were intronic and primarily localized within the first intron, identifying this position as a common feature associated with tissue-specific gene expression changes in the heart. This dataset defines the dynamic genomic regulatory landscape underlying heart failure and serves as an important resource for understanding genetic contributions to cardiac dysfunction.