ArticleNature2018
Gene expression variability across cells and species shapes innate immunity.
Article in Nature, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 147 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
147 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
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- Heritable single-cell gene expression states shape functional variability in innate immune responses.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Decoding Immune Regulation: From Genetic Variation to Mechanism Through Single-Cell Genomics.Immune network · 2026Review
- The evolutionary dynamics between viral mimics and host proteins.Molecular systems biology · 2026Article
- Differential assembly of mouse and human tumor microenvironments.Nature immunology · 2026Article
- Inter-individual gene expression variability implies stable regulation of brain-biased genes across organs in three ray-finned fishes.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- scArchon: a scalable benchmarking framework for assessing single-cell perturbation models.Genome biology · 2026Article
- Functional characterization of specialized immune cells in a cnidarian reveals an ancestral antiviral program.Nature communications · 2026Article
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- Differential expression of CD74 and C1QB in jaw versus long bone osteosarcoma: Insights from animal models, public datasets and clinical cohorts.Journal of bone oncology · 2026Article
- Dysregulation of Neutrophil-Endothelial Communication in Sepsis: Mechanisms and Therapeutic Perspectives.Cells · 2026Review
- Predictors of Protein Evolution in the drosophilid Immune System.Genome biology and evolution · 2026Article
87 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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Authors and funding
23 authors.
Funding
Abstract
As the first line of defence against pathogens, cells mount an innate immune response, which varies widely from cell to cell. The response must be potent but carefully controlled to avoid self-damage. How these constraints have shaped the evolution of innate immunity remains poorly understood. Here we characterize the innate immune response's transcriptional divergence between species and variability in expression among cells. Using bulk and single-cell transcriptomics in fibroblasts and mononuclear phagocytes from different species, challenged with immune stimuli, we map the architecture of the innate immune response. Transcriptionally diverging genes, including those that encode cytokines and chemokines, vary across cells and have distinct promoter structures. Conversely, genes that are involved in the regulation of this response, such as those that encode transcription factors and kinases, are conserved between species and display low cell-to-cell variability in expression. We suggest that this expression pattern, which is observed across species and conditions, has evolved as a mechanism for fine-tuned regulation to achieve an effective but balanced response.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.