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Lookup NU author(s): James Fletcher, Dr Emily StephensonORCiD, Dr Peter Vegh, Professor Muzlifah Haniffa
This is the authors' accepted manuscript of an article that has been published in its final definitive form by Nature Publishing Group, 2018.
For re-use rights please refer to the publisher's terms and conditions.
As the first line of defence against pathogens, cells mount an innate immune response, which varies widely from cell to cell. The response must be potent but carefully controlled to avoid self-damage. How these constraints have shaped the evolution of innate immunity remains poorly understood. Here we characterize the innate immune response’s transcriptional divergence between species and variability in expression among cells. Using bulk and single-cell transcriptomics in fibroblasts and mononuclear phagocytes from different species, challenged with immune stimuli, we map the architecture of the innate immune response. Transcriptionally diverging genes, including those that encode cytokines and chemokines, vary across cells and have distinct promoter structures. Conversely, genes that are involved in the regulation of this response, such as those that encode transcription factors and kinases, are conserved between species and display low cell-to-cell variability in expression. We suggest that this expression pattern, which is observed across species and conditions, has evolved as a mechanism for fine-tuned regulation to achieve an effective but balanced response.
Author(s): Hagai T, Chen X, Miragaia RJ, Rostom R, Gomes T, Kunowska N, Henriksson J, Park JE, Proserpio V, Donati G, Bossini-Castillo L, Vieira Braga FA, Naamati G, Fletcher J, Stephenson E, Vegh P, Trynka G, Kondova I, Dennis M, Haniffa M, Nourmohammad A, Lässig M, Teichmann SA
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Nature
Year: 2018
Volume: 563
Issue: 7730
Pages: 197-202
Print publication date: 08/11/2018
Online publication date: 24/10/2018
Acceptance date: 17/08/2018
Date deposited: 26/02/2019
ISSN (print): 0028-0836
ISSN (electronic): 1476-4687
Publisher: Nature Publishing Group
URL: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-018-0657-2
DOI: 10.1038/s41586-018-0657-2
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