Distinctive roles of age, sex, and genetics in shaping transcriptional variation of human immune responses to microbial challenges.

ABSTRACT: The contribution of host genetic and nongenetic factors to immunological differences in humans remains largely undefined. Here, we generated bacterial-, fungal-, and viral-induced immune transcriptional profiles in an age- and sex-balanced cohort of 1,000 healthy individuals and searched for the determinants of immune response variation. We found that age and sex affected the transcriptional response of most immune-related genes, with age effects being more stimulus-specific relative to sex effects, which were largely shared across conditions. Although specific cell populations mediated the effects of age and sex on gene expression, including CD8⁺ T cells for age and CD4⁺ T cells and monocytes for sex, we detected a direct effect of these intrinsic factors for the maj

SUBMITTER: Piasecka B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5776984 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature