Influence of circadian clocks on adaptive immunity and vaccination responses

• Published in: Nature communications Vol. 14; no. 1; pp. 476 - 13
• Main Authors: Ince, Louise Madeleine, Barnoud, Coline, Lutes, Lydia Kay, Pick, Robert, Wang, Chen, Sinturel, Flore, Chen, Chien-Sin, de Juan, Alba, Weber, Jasmin, Holtkamp, Stephan J., Hergenhan, Sophia Martina, Geddes-McAlister, Jennifer, Ebner, Stefan, Fontannaz, Paola, Meyer, Benjamin, Vono, Maria, Jemelin, Stéphane, Dibner, Charna, Siegrist, Claire-Anne, Meissner, Felix, Graw, Frederik, Scheiermann, Christoph
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 30.01.2023; Nature Publishing Group; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: 14/34; 14/69; 45/77; 631/250/1620/1616; 631/250/2152; 631/250/2504/133/2505; 631/80/105; 64/60; 82/58; Adaptive control; Adaptive Immunity; Biological clocks; BMAL1 protein; Cell migration; Circadian Clocks; Circadian rhythm; Circadian rhythms; Combinations (mathematics); COVID-19 - prevention & control; Dendritic cells; Hepatitis A; Humanities and Social Sciences; Humans; Immune response; Immune system; Intercellular adhesion molecule 1; Lymph Nodes; Lymphatic system; Lymphocytes; Lymphocytes T; Mathematical models; multidisciplinary; Public health; SARS-CoV-2; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; Time dependence; Time of use; Vaccination; Vaccines
• ISSN: 2041-1723; 2041-1723
• DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-35979-2

The adaptive immune response is under circadian control, yet, why adaptive immune reactions continue to exhibit circadian changes over long periods of time is unknown. Using a combination of experimental and mathematical modeling approaches, we show here that dendritic cells migrate from the skin to the draining lymph node in a time-of-day-dependent manner, which provides an enhanced likelihood for functional interactions with T cells. Rhythmic expression of TNF in the draining lymph node enhances BMAL1-controlled ICAM-1 expression in high endothelial venules, resulting in lymphocyte infiltration and lymph node expansion. Lymph node cellularity continues to be different for weeks after the initial time-of-day-dependent challenge, which governs the immune response to vaccinations directed against Hepatitis A virus as well as SARS-CoV-2. In this work, we present a mechanistic understanding of the time-of-day dependent development and maintenance of an adaptive immune response, providing a strategy for using time-of-day to optimize vaccination regimes. Circadian rhythms have been shown to influence immune responses, but it is unclear whether this influences responses to vaccines. Here the authors show that dendritic cells migrate in a circadian rhythm meaning that interactions with T cells are altered leading to differential vaccine responses.