Dragunas, G., Klotz, M., Chen, S., Ertüz, Z., Tan, X., Korkmaz, Ü. R., Shankhwar, S., Rankl, B., Dhakad, D., Omony, J., Mayr, C. H., Chen, Y., Agami, A., Lin, C. W., Müller, C., Lunding, L., Wegmann, M., Berner, J., Popovic, J., Schraml, B. U., Adler, H., Falter-Braun, P., Schiller, H., Watz, H., Conlon, T. M., Jeridi, A., Kapellos, T. S., von Mutius, E. & Yildirim, A. Ö. A beneficial environment promotes immune resilience through epigenetic regulation. Sci. Adv. 12, eady7317 (2026).
Abstract
Environmental factors are often detrimental; however, certain environments enhance immune resilience. Notably, children raised on traditional farms show reduced allergies and asthma prevalence. Here, we investigated how a beneficial environment, using farm dust (FD) extract, influenced lung immune function in ovalbumin-induced allergic inflammation. FD exposure reduced allergic lung inflammation and increased monocyte-derived macrophage (MDM) recruitment. Single-cell RNA sequencing revealed that FD-exposed MDMs had altered gene expression, including dampened Ccl8 and major histocompatibility complex class II expression, impairing eosinophil recruitment and antigen presentation. RNA sequencing and assay for transposase-accessible chromatin using sequencing confirmed FD-induced epigenetic reprogramming ex vivo, on bone marrow–derived macrophages. This modulation, seen in both human and murine cells, relied on histone deacetylase activity sustained by peroxisome proliferator–activated receptor γ signaling. These findings suggest that beneficial environmental exposures can reprogram immune cells and may offer a previously unidentified strategy for asthma prevention.