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. 2011 Feb 15;108(7):3080-5.
doi: 10.1073/pnas.1014218108. Epub 2011 Feb 7.

Transcript origin analysis identifies antigen-presenting cells as primary targets of socially regulated gene expression in leukocytes

Steven W Cole  1 , Louise C Hawkley, Jesusa M G Arevalo, John T Cacioppo
Affiliations

Transcript origin analysis identifies antigen-presenting cells as primary targets of socially regulated gene expression in leukocytes

Steven W Cole et al. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. .

Abstract

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.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.
Transcript origin analysis of genes differentially expressed in circulating leukocytes from chronically lonely vs. nonlonely individuals in a discovery sample of 14 individuals in study year 4 (A) and a confirmation sample of 93 individuals in study year 8 (B). Data represent mean ± SE cell type diagnosticity score, with P values testing overrepresentation relative to the genome-wide null distribution for each cell type. Positive diagnosticity indicates that differentially expressed genes originate predominately from the analyzed cell type. Negative values are uninformative, implying that transcripts originate from other cell types or from the analyzed cell type as well as other cell types. Chronically lonely individuals were identified by UCLA Loneliness Scale scores in the top 15% of the sample distribution for each of the study's first 3 y (43% of the analyzed subsample) (A) or in the top quartile for 3 y or more of the study's first 5 y (26% of the analyzed sample) (B). All participants are healthy older adults enrolled in the CHASRS (4).
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