A Two-Step Process of Effector Programming Governs CD4⁺ T Cell Fate Determination Induced by Antigenic Activation in the Steady State.

ABSTRACT: Various processes induce and maintain immune tolerance, but effector T cells still arise under minimal perturbations of homeostasis through unclear mechanisms. We report that, contrary to the model postulating primarily tolerogenic mechanisms initiated under homeostatic conditions, effector programming is an integral part of T cell fate determination induced by antigenic activation in the steady state. This effector programming depends on a two-step process starting with induction of effector precursors that express Hopx and are imprinted with multiple instructions for their subsequent terminal effector differentiation. Such molecular circuits advancing specific terminal effector differentiation upon re-stimulation include programmed expression of interferon-γ, whose production then promot

SUBMITTER: Opejin A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7714042 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature