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Acute hypoxia drives long-term dysfunctional neutrophil immunity

Systemic hypoxia is sufficient to induce persistent neutrophil dysfunction in humans, months after acute respiratory distress syndrome or high-altitude conditions. This dysfunction is mediated by loss of the histone modification H3K4me3. In hypoxic mouse models, we show that this reduction in H3K4me3 originates in neutrophil progenitor populations and is a consequence of histone 3 clipping.

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Fig. 1: Mechanistic basis of long-term neutrophil reprogramming by hypoxia.

References

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This is a summary of: Sanchez-Garcia, M. A. et al. Hypoxia induces histone clipping and H3K4me3 loss in neutrophil progenitors resulting in long-term impairment of neutrophil immunity. Nat. Immunol. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41590-025-02301-9 (2025).

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Acute hypoxia drives long-term dysfunctional neutrophil immunity. Nat Immunol 26, 1861–1862 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41590-025-02335-z

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