Overview
- The Allen Institute–led team followed roughly 96 healthy adults aged 25–65 across two annual flu vaccinations using single-cell RNA sequencing, proteomics, and spectral flow cytometry.
- With increasing age, memory T cells shifted toward a Th2-like state that correlated with weaker activation of memory B cells and diminished antibody responses to vaccination.
- Researchers compiled a Human Immune Health Atlas covering more than 16 million immune cells from adults spanning 25 to 90+ years, mapping 71 distinct immune cell subsets.
- The authors report that chronic inflammation did not account for the healthy age-related immune changes observed, indicating an intrinsic cellular reprogramming process.
- The peer-reviewed Nature paper from the Allen Institute and Benaroya Research Institute outlines potential paths for age-tailored vaccines or T cell–focused therapies, which remain to be tested.