Integrated Bulk and Single-Cell RNA-Sequencing Reveals the Effects of Circadian Rhythm Disruption on the Metabolic Reprogramming of CD4+ T Cells in Alzheimer’s Disease

Although growing evidence suggests close correlations between Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and circadian rhythm disruption (CRD), few studies have focused on the influence of circadian rhythm on levels of immune cells in AD. We aimed to delineate the mechanism underlying the effects of circadian related genes on T cell immune function in AD. A total of 112 brain samples were used to construct the CRD-related model by performing weighted gene co-expression network analysis and machine learning algorithms (LASSO, SVM-RFE, and RF). The ssGSEA method was used to calculate the CRDscore in order to quantify CRD status. Using single-cell transcriptome data of CSF cells, we investigated the CD4+ T cell metabolism and cell-cell communication in high- and low-risk CRD groups. Connectivity map (CMap) was applied to explore small molecule drugs targeting CRD, and the expression of the signature gene GPR4 was further validated in AD. The CRDscore algorithm, which is based on 23 circadian-related genes, can effectively classify the CRD status in AD datasets. The single-cell analysis revealed that the CD4+ T cells with high CRDscore were characterized by hypometabolism. Cell communication analysis revealed that CD4+ T cells might be involved in promoting CD8+ T cell adhesion under CRD, which may facilitate T cell infiltration into the brain parenchyma. Overall, this study indicates the potential connotation of circadian rhythm in AD, providing insights into understanding T cell metabolic reprogramming under CRD.