IRF7 signalling in tanycytes controls brain-body-immune response across the ovarian cycle.

Cyclic interferon signaling in tanycytes drives oestrous-cycle–linked Irf7 and Cxcl10 expression in female mice, producing temporally patterned leukocyte and cytokine responses.

• Why it matters: Sex-biased metabolic and immune traits depend on endocrine–immune crosstalk, but how brain cells coordinate immune programs across the ovarian cycle is unclear.
• What they did: Using single-cell transcriptomics, the study mapped mouse and human mediobasal hypothalamus tanycytes and tracked sex-, oestrous-cycle-, and high-fat-diet–dependent changes, then perturbed oestrogen and interferon signaling in tanycytes.
• The result: Irf7 expression in tanycytes of physiological males stayed stable and markedly lower than in cycling females, and manipulating oestrogen/interferon signaling altered cyclic leukocyte infiltration into the median eminence and modulated circulating monocyte proportions.

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