ArticlePLoS biology2019
Single-cell transcriptomics of the naked mole-rat reveals unexpected features of mammalian immunity.
Article in PLoS biology, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 71 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
71 citing papers in PubMed, 123 citations in OpenAlex.
- Intrinsic anti-tumorigenic properties of the skin epithelium promote cancer resistance in naked mole-rats.iScience · 2026Article
- Article
- Longevity through immunity: the unusual naked mole-rat immune system.GeroScience · 2026Review
- Characterisation of bacteria-induced colitis and its modulation by probiotics in naked mole rats: a new mammalian model for acute inflammatory disease.The Journal of pathology · 2026Article
- Immunometabolic resistors of aging in long-lived golden spiny mice.Science advances · 2026Article
- Immunological surveillance against cancer across mammals.Nature communications · 2025Article
- Unlocking longevity through the comparative biology of aging.Nature aging · 2025Review
- Neuropeptides specify and reprogram division of labor in the leafcutter ant Atta cephalotes.Cell · 2025Article
- Understanding vertebrate immunity through comparative immunology.Nature reviews. Immunology · 2025Review
- Single-cell 5' RNA sequencing of camelid peripheral B cells provides insights into cellular basis of heavy-chain antibody production.Computational and structural biotechnology journal · 2024Article
- Neuropeptides specify and reprogram division of labor in the leafcutter antbioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2024Article
- The Promise of a Pointillist Perspective for Comparative Immunology.Physiology (Bethesda, Md.) · 2024Review
- scDiffusion: conditional generation of high-quality single-cell data using diffusion model.Bioinformatics (Oxford, England) · 2024Article
- Features of the CD1 gene family in rodents and the uniqueness of the immune system of naked mole-rat.Biology direct · 2024Article
- Invariant γδTCR natural killer-like effector T cells in the naked mole-rat.Nature communications · 2024Article
- Evolution of T cells in the cancer-resistant naked mole-rat.Nature communications · 2024Article
- Article
- Assessing immune phenotypes using simple proxy measures: promise and limitations.Discovery immunology · 2024Article
- Comparative genomics of the Natural Killer Complex in carnivores.Frontiers in immunology · 2024Article
- Relative effect size-based profiles as an alternative to differentiation analysis in multi-species single-cell transcriptional studies.PloS one · 2024Article
11 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
14 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The immune system comprises a complex network of specialized cells that protects against infection, eliminates cancerous cells, and regulates tissue repair, thus serving a critical role in homeostasis, health span, and life span. The subterranean-dwelling naked mole-rat (NM-R; Heterocephalus glaber) exhibits prolonged life span relative to its body size, is unusually cancer resistant, and manifests few physiological or molecular changes with advancing age. We therefore hypothesized that the immune system of NM-Rs evolved unique features that confer enhanced cancer immunosurveillance and prevent the age-associated decline in homeostasis. Using single-cell RNA-sequencing (scRNA-seq) we mapped the immune system of the NM-R and compared it to that of the short-lived, cancer-prone mouse. In contrast to the mouse, we find that the NM-R immune system is characterized by a high myeloid-to-lymphoid cell ratio that includes a novel, lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-responsive, granulocyte cell subset. Surprisingly, we also find that NM-Rs lack canonical natural killer (NK) cells. Our comparative genomics analyses support this finding, showing that the NM-R genome lacks an expanded gene family that controls NK cell function in several other species. Furthermore, we reconstructed the evolutionary history that likely led to this genomic state. The NM-R thus challenges our current understanding of mammalian immunity, favoring an atypical, myeloid-biased mode of innate immunosurveillance, which may contribute to its remarkable health span.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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.