Single-cell sequencing of immune cells after marathon and symptom-limited cardiopulmonary exercise

Yanli Yu; Xiaolu Zhang; Yanjing Chen; Yanze Li; Suying Bian; Yizhuo Yang; Hanan Song; Cheng Zhang; Zhenhe Dong; Guanghui Li; Luyou Xu; Zhuang Jia; Yu Liu; Xiaoyi He; Ming Yang; Jianjun Guo; Zhixiong Zhou; Yan Zhang

doi:10.1016/j.isci.2023.106532

Single-cell sequencing of immune cells after marathon and symptom-limited cardiopulmonary exercise

iScience. 2023 Mar 31;26(4):106532. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2023.106532. eCollection 2023 Apr 21.

Authors

Yanli Yu¹, Xiaolu Zhang², Yanjing Chen¹, Yanze Li³, Suying Bian⁴, Yizhuo Yang¹, Hanan Song¹, Cheng Zhang^{1

5}, Zhenhe Dong¹, Guanghui Li¹, Luyou Xu⁶, Zhuang Jia⁶, Yu Liu⁶, Xiaoyi He⁶, Ming Yang⁶, Jianjun Guo¹, Zhixiong Zhou⁶, Yan Zhang¹

Affiliations

¹ Sports & Medicine Integration Research Center (SMIRC), Capital University of Physical Education and Sports, Beijing 100191, China.
² Department of Physiology and Pathophysiology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Cheeloo College of Medicine, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong 250012, China.
³ CapitalBio Technology, Beijing, China.
⁴ Beijing Zijing Biological Co., LTD, Beijing, China.
⁵ Taizhou Vocational College of Science & Technology, Taizhou, Zhejiang 318020, China.
⁶ Institute for Sport Performance and Health Promotion, Capital University of Physical Education and Sports, Beijing 100191, China.

Abstract

Vigorous-intensity leisure-time physical activity, such as marathon, has become increasingly popular, but its effect on immune functions and health is poorly understood. Here, we performed scRNA-seq analysis of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) after a bout of symptom-limited cardiopulmonary exercise (CPX) test or marathon. Time-series single-cell analysis revealed the detailed series of landscapes of immune cells in response to short and long vigorous-intensity activities. Reduction of effective T cells was observed with the cell migration and motility pathways enriched in circulation following marathon. Baseline values of PBMCs abundance were reached around 1 h after CPX and 24 h following marathon, but longer time was required for expression recovery of cytotoxicity genes. The ratio of effector/naive T cells was found to change uniformly among the participants and could serve as a better indicator for exercise intensity than the CD4+/CD8+ T cell ratio. Moreover, we identified time-dependent monocyte state transitions after marathon.

Keywords: Immune system; Physical activity; Transcriptomics.