NATURE COMMUNICATIONS, CASTRO DOPICO ET AL.Gene expression in human immune cells varies by season, according to a study published today (May 12) in Nature Communications—the first of its kind to examine patterns in gene-expression variation throughout the year.
The results indicate “sort of a molecular signature of the seasons in humans,” said Ghislain Breton, who studies circadian rhythms at the University of Texas at Houston, but was not involved in the work.
In immune cells of the blood, the expression of genes that promote inflammation tends to rise in the winter and dip in the summer, the team—led by investigators at the University of Cambridge—found. The researchers hypothesized that these and other seasonal gene-expression patterns may help explain the seasonality of diseases, from infectious maladies like the flu to chronic conditions such as heart disease.
“We now know that all immune cell types have their own circadian clocks, as is the case for virtually all other organs and cell types in the body,” ...
