Zhang Siyu, Fang Xiang, Chang Mengyang, Zheng Ming, Guo Lijin, Xu Yibin, Shu Jingting, Nie Qinghua, Li Zhenhui
State Key Laboratory of Swine and Poultry Breeding Industry, Guangdong Provincial Key Lab of Agro-Animal Genomics and Molecular Breeding, College of Animal Science, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, 510642, China.
Key Laboratory of Chicken Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affair, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, 510642, China.
BMC Genomics. 2024 Dec 2;25(1):1169. doi: 10.1186/s12864-024-11030-6.
Single-cell transcriptome sequencing (scRNA-seq) has revolutionized the study of immune cells by overcoming the limitations of traditional antibody-based identification and isolation methods. This advancement allows us to obtain comprehensive gene expression profiles from a diverse array of vertebrate species, facilitating the identification of various cell types. Comparative immunology across vertebrates presents a promising approach to understanding the evolution of immune cell types. In this study, we conducted a comparative transcriptome analysis of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) at the single-cell level across 12 species.
Our findings shed light on the cellular compositional features of PBMCs, spanning from fish to mammals. Notably, we identified genes that exhibit vertebrate universality in characterizing immune cells. Moreover, our investigation revealed that monocytes have maintained a conserved transcriptional regulatory program throughout evolution, emphasizing their pivotal role in orchestrating immune cells to execute immune programs.
This comprehensive analysis provides valuable insights into the evolution of immune cells across vertebrates.
单细胞转录组测序（scRNA-seq）克服了传统基于抗体的鉴定和分离方法的局限性，彻底改变了免疫细胞的研究。这一进展使我们能够从各种脊椎动物物种中获得全面的基因表达谱，有助于识别各种细胞类型。跨脊椎动物的比较免疫学为理解免疫细胞类型的进化提供了一种很有前景的方法。在本研究中，我们在单细胞水平上对12个物种的外周血单核细胞（PBMC）进行了比较转录组分析。
我们的研究结果揭示了从鱼类到哺乳动物的PBMC的细胞组成特征。值得注意的是，我们鉴定出了在表征免疫细胞方面具有脊椎动物普遍性的基因。此外，我们的研究表明，单核细胞在整个进化过程中保持了保守的转录调控程序，强调了它们在协调免疫细胞执行免疫程序中的关键作用。
这项全面的分析为跨脊椎动物免疫细胞的进化提供了有价值的见解。
