Division of Hematology-Oncology, Department of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1678, USA.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2011 Feb 15;108(7):3080-5. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1014218108. Epub 2011 Feb 7.
To clarify the biological rationale for social regulation of gene expression, this study sought to identify the specific immune cell types that are transcriptionally sensitive to subjective social isolation (loneliness). Using reference distributions for the expression of each human gene in each major leukocyte subtype, we mapped the cellular origin of transcripts found to be differentially expressed in the circulating immune cells from chronically lonely individuals. Loneliness-associated genes derived primarily from plasmacytoid dendritic cells, monocytes, and, to a lesser extent, B lymphocytes. Those dynamics reflected per-cell changes in the expression of inducible genes and related more strongly to the subjective experience of loneliness than to objective social network size. Evolutionarily ancient myeloid antigen-presenting cells appear to have evolved a transcriptional sensitivity to socioenvironmental conditions that may allow them to shift basal gene expression profiles to counter the changing microbial threats associated with hostile vs. affine social conditions.
为了阐明基因表达的社会调控的生物学原理，本研究旨在确定对主观社会隔离（孤独）具有转录敏感性的特定免疫细胞类型。使用每个主要白细胞亚型中每个人类基因表达的参考分布，我们绘制了在长期孤独个体的循环免疫细胞中差异表达的转录本的细胞起源。孤独相关基因主要来源于浆细胞样树突状细胞、单核细胞，以及程度较小的 B 淋巴细胞。这些动态反映了每个细胞中诱导基因表达的变化，并且与孤独的主观体验的相关性强于与客观社交网络规模的相关性。进化上古老的髓样抗原呈递细胞似乎已经进化出对社会环境条件的转录敏感性，这可能使它们能够改变基础基因表达谱，以对抗与敌对和亲和社会条件相关的不断变化的微生物威胁。
