Mucosal Immunol. 2026 Jan 17:S1933-0219(26)00004-8. doi: 10.1016/j.mucimm.2026.01.004. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

The mechanisms underlying innate lymphoid cell (ILC) development and function in the neonatal lung remain incompletely defined. ILCs are critical mediators of early-life innate immune responses in the lung. Dysregulation of ILC homeostasis has both immediate and long-lasting effects on lung health. We generated single-cell transcriptomic and epigenetic datasets from the lungs of neonatal and young adult mice that includes subsets of type 1 (natural killer, NK cells) type 2 (ILC2) and type 3 (ILC3) cells. These datasets include mice subjected to early life antibiotic-induced dysbiosis, thereby modeling a common perturbation of the developing immune system in humans. Analysis of cell-cell communication and gene regulation in these datasets reveals underappreciated aspects of lung ILC biology, including marked interleukin-4 (IL-4) signaling in neonatal lung ILC2. This data represents a valuable resource for hypothesis generation regarding the molecular regulation of ILC gene expression and function in the neonatal lung.

PMID:41554380 | DOI:10.1016/j.mucimm.2026.01.004