Single-cell immune aging clocks reveal inter-individual heterogeneity during infection and vaccination.

Wenchao Li, Zhenhua Zhang, Saumya Kumar, Javier Botey-Bataller, Martijn Zoodsma, Ali Ehsani, Qiuyao Zhan, Ahmed Alaswad, Liang Zhou, Inge Grondman, Valerie Koeken, Jian Yang, Gang Wang, Sonja Volland, Tania O Crişan, Leo A B Joosten, Thomas Illig, Cheng-Jian Xu, Mihai G Netea, Yang Li

Department of Computational Biology of Individualised Medicine, Centre for Individualised Infection Medicine (CiiM), a Joint Venture Between the Hannover Medical School and the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research, Hannover, Germany.Department of Computational Biology of Individualised Medicine, Centre for Individualised Infection Medicine (CiiM), a Joint Venture Between the Hannover Medical School and the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research, Hannover, Germany. · pubmed

Paper

Abstract

Aging affects human immune system functionality, increasing susceptibility to immune-mediated diseases. While gene expression programs accurately reflect immune function, their relationship with biological immune aging and health status remains unclear. Here we developed robust, cell-type-specific aging clocks (sc-ImmuAging) for the myeloid and lymphoid immune cell populations in circulation within peripheral blood mononuclear cells, using single-cell RNA-sequencing data from 1,081 healthy individuals aged from 18 to 97 years. Application of sc-ImmuAging to transcriptome data of patients with COVID-19 revealed notable age acceleration in monocytes, which decreased during recovery. Furthermore, inter-individual variations in immune aging induced by vaccination were identified, with individuals exhibiting elevated baseline interferon response genes showing age rejuvenation in CD8

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Research summary

The paper claims that single-cell immune aging clocks can reveal inter-individual heterogeneity in immune responses during infection and vaccination. This research is relevant as it addresses biological immune aging, which is a fundamental aspect of longevity and age-related health, potentially leading to insights that could improve immune function in aging populations.

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