Human Heart Single-Nucleus RNA-Seq Atlas Across Lifespan

442,239 single-nucleus RNA sequencing profiles from 54 non-failing myocardial tissues of 29 individuals, covering development, adulthood, and aging. This atlas was generated by Hao Jia and colleagues to define transcriptional remodeling of the human heart. The dataset was published in 2026.

Use Cases

• Identify cell type-specific transcriptional trajectories using gene expression profiles across major cardiac cell types.
• Predict cardiac transcriptomic age by constructing models from lifespan-resolved single-nucleus data.
• Analyze regulatory network activity, such as the decline of PRDM16 activity with age in cardiomyocytes.
• Compare senescence- and disease-related gene expression signatures between age-associated cardiomyocyte states.
• Assess inflammatory signaling and stress response pathways across different developmental and aging stages.

Strengths

• Large-scale dataset of 442,239 nuclei from 54 tissue samples.
• Covers a wide temporal range from development through aging across 29 individuals.
• Includes data from both left and right ventricles for comparative analysis.

Limitations

• Limited to 577.0 KB in size, indicating the provided files are likely analysis code and metadata, not the full expression matrix.
• Sample size of 29 individuals may limit statistical power for rare cell states or sub-populations.
• Exclusively non-failing heart tissues, limiting direct insights into diseased states like cardiomyopathies.

Provenance

Source

Figshare, authored by Hao Jia.

Collection Method

Single-nucleus RNA sequencing of human myocardial tissues.

Time Range

Samples span human development, adulthood, and aging.

Freshness

Last updated in April 2026.