{
  "abstract": "Childhood represents a critical period with rapid metabolic and immune remodeling, during which perturbations may have lasting consequences for health. We integrated single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) profiles of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from 2,008 healthy individuals aged 0-100 years. Age-resolved modeling highlighted an early-childhood transition centered at age 6, characterized by coordinated remodeling of metabolism-related transcriptional programs, particularly in monocyte and B-lineage cells. Matched serum metabolomics and lipidomics in a pediatric subcohort detected a temporally concordant wave of metabolite and lipid changes around ages 6-8 and extensive metabolite/lipid-transcript associations, prominently involving steroid and phospholipid species. Building on these findings, we developed an immunometabolic transition score and age-specific reference chart, which were evaluated in an independent healthy cohort and applied to quantify deviations in pediatric immune disorders. These findings highlight a coordinated immunometabolic transition in early childhood and provide an age-referenced framework for distinguishing atypical immune-state variation from healthy age-associated variation.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Department of Endocrinology, The First Affiliated Hospital of USTC, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei"
  ],
  "article_type": "New results",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 14,
  "authors": [
    {
      "name": "J. Zheng"
    },
    {
      "name": "Y. Shi"
    },
    {
      "name": "Y. Sun"
    },
    {
      "name": "Y. Wang"
    },
    {
      "name": "R. Li"
    },
    {
      "name": "P. Wang"
    },
    {
      "name": "S. Chang"
    },
    {
      "name": "L. Pan"
    },
    {
      "name": "H. Tan"
    },
    {
      "name": "T. Yue"
    },
    {
      "name": "K. Qu"
    },
    {
      "name": "X. Zheng"
    },
    {
      "name": "C. Guo"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "J. Weng"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/7pevnsh1jzz7d.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.64898/2026.09.11.750312",
  "fulltext_url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.11.750312v1.full",
  "id": "7pevnsh1jzz7d",
  "issns": [],
  "landing_url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.11.750312v1",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "CC-BY-NC-ND",
  "licence_label": "CC BY-NC-ND",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "biorxiv",
      "immunology"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "1312|Single-cell and spatial transcriptomics"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7213556960",
  "pdf_url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.11.750312v1.full.pdf",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-09-11",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/7pevnsh1jzz7d.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:23:04Z",
      "native_id": "10.64898/2026.09.11.750312",
      "source": "biorxiv",
      "url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.11.750312v1"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "biology",
      "origin": "biorxiv:immunology",
      "subfield": "immunology"
    }
  ],
  "title": "A lifespan-scale single-cell atlas defines an early-childhood immunometabolic transition linked to age-referenced immune states",
  "title_text": "A lifespan-scale single-cell atlas defines an early-childhood immunometabolic transition linked to age-referenced immune states",
  "type": "preprint",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:23:04Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/7pevnsh1jzz7d",
  "venue": "bioRxiv",
  "versions": []
}