Single-Cell Multi-Omics of the Aging Immune Landscape

The aging of the immune system, or immunosenescence, is a complex process characterized by a progressive decline in immune function and the development of chronic, low-grade systemic inflammation (inflammaging). While traditional bulk profiling methods have provided valuable insights, they often obscure the vast cellular heterogeneity and specialized spatial niches of the immune landscape. Advances in single-cell technologies and spatial profiling now offer unprecedented resolution to dissect these dynamic cellular ecosystems, revealing how individual immune cell states, lineages, and tissue-resident populations shift over the lifespan.To truly understand this complex architecture, this Research Topic emphasizes the integration of multiple single-cell modalities. We aim to highlight how combining transcriptomic, epigenomic, TCR/BCR repertoire, proteomic, and spatial datasets can resolve the distinct microenvironments of tissue-specific immune aging across diverse biological compartments - including the bone marrow, thymus, lymphoid tissues, liver, gut, lung, brain, and peripheral blood. Additionally, this collection spotlights recent computational and methodological breakthroughs that are essential for processing these complex datasets, such as advanced cell-state annotation, trajectory inference, clonal tracking, spatial deconvolution, cross-dataset integration, and reference atlas construction for aging immunity.By bridging the gap between basic cellular mechanisms, computational innovations, and clinical realities, this collection ultimately aims to uncover novel biomarkers, evaluate immune resilience, and advance targeted translational interventions—such as understanding vaccine responses, infection susceptibility, cancer immunology, and regenerative or rejuvenation strategies - to restore immune resilience and promote healthy aging.Areas of interest include, but are not limited to, the following themes:- Integrative Single-Cell Multi-Omics: Studies leveraging transcriptomic, epigenomic, TCR/BCR repertoire, proteomic, and spatial data integration in aging immune cells.- Tissue-Specific Immune Aging: High-resolution spatial profiling and imaging of tissue-resident immune niches in organs such as the bone marrow, thymus, lymphoid tissues, liver, gut, lung, brain, and peripheral blood.- Computational and Methodological Advances: Development and application of tools for cell-state annotation, trajectory inference, clonal tracking, spatial deconvolution, cross-dataset integration, and reference atlas construction for aging immunity.- Lineage Dynamics and Senescence: Heterogeneity, functional decline, clonal dynamics, somatic mutations, and lineage tracing in specific aging immune cell lineages and the hematopoietic system.- Inflammaging and Communication: Molecular and systemic communication networks driving inflammaging and cellular senescence.- Translational and Clinical Applications: Research on biomarker discovery, vaccine response, infection susceptibility, cancer immunology, immune resilience, and regenerative or rejuvenation strategies to counter age-related inflammatory diseases. Topic editors: Mengzhe Zhang, Jun Li, Yao Zhi, Tao Zhang Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/83720/single-cell-multi-omics-of-the-aging-immune-landscape