A lifespan-scale single-cell atlas defines an early-childhood immunometabolic transition linked to age-referenced immune states
- 1Department of Endocrinology, The First Affiliated Hospital of USTC, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei
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.
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BibTeX
@misc{zheng2026lifespanscale,
title = {{A lifespan-scale single-cell atlas defines an early-childhood immunometabolic transition linked to age-referenced immune states}},
author = {J. Zheng and Y. Shi and Y. Sun and Y. Wang and R. Li and P. Wang and S. Chang and L. Pan and H. Tan and T. Yue and K. Qu and X. Zheng and C. Guo and J. Weng},
howpublished = {bioRxiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.64898/2026.09.11.750312},
url = {https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.11.750312v1},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - A lifespan-scale single-cell atlas defines an early-childhood immunometabolic transition linked to age-referenced immune states
AU - J. Zheng
AU - Y. Shi
AU - Y. Sun
AU - Y. Wang
AU - R. Li
AU - P. Wang
AU - S. Chang
AU - L. Pan
AU - H. Tan
AU - T. Yue
AU - K. Qu
AU - X. Zheng
AU - C. Guo
AU - J. Weng
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/11
PB - bioRxiv
DO - 10.64898/2026.09.11.750312
UR - https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.11.750312v1
AB - 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.
ER -