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Early transcriptional and epigenetic regulation of CD8+ T cell differentiation revealed by single-cell RNA-seq

ABSTRACT: During microbial infection, responding CD8+ T lymphocytes differentiate into heterogeneous subsets that together provide immediate and durable protection. To elucidate the dynamic transcriptional changes that underlie this process, we applied a single-cell RNA sequencing approach and analyzed individual CD8+ T lymphocytes sequentially throughout the course of a viral infection in vivo. Our analyses revealed a striking transcriptional divergence among cells that had undergone their first division and identified previously unknown molecular determinants controlling CD8+ T lymphocyte fate specification, including Ezh2, the catalytic component of the Polycomb Repressive Complex 2. Our data provide a revised model of terminal effector cell differentiation initiated by an early burst of transcriptional activity and subsequently refined by epigenetic silencing of transcripts associated with memory lymphocytes. These findings provide unexpected insights into tightly coupled transcriptional and epigenetic mechanisms underlying CD8+ T lymphocyte fate specification and highlight the power and necessity of single-cell approaches.

ORGANISM(S): Mus musculus

PROVIDER: GSE89405 | GEO | 2017/02/20

SECONDARY ACCESSION(S): PRJNA352070

REPOSITORIES: GEO

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Project description:T lymphocytes responding to microbial infection give rise to effector cells that mediate acute host defense and memory cells that provide long-lived immunity, but the fundamental question of when and how these cells arise remains unresolved. Here we combine single-cell gene expression analyses with machine-learning approaches to trace the transcriptional roadmap of individual CD8+ T lymphocytes throughout the course of an immune response in vivo. Gene expression signatures predictive of eventual fates could be discerned as early as the first T lymphocyte division and may be influenced by asymmetric partitioning of the interleukin-2 receptor during mitosis. These findings underscore the importance of single-cell analyses in understanding fate determination and provide new insights into the specification of divergent lymphocyte fates early during an immune response to microbial infection. The goal of the study was to profile the gene expression in single CD8+ T cells responding in vivo to a microbial infection over multiple timepoints. 5 x 103 CD8+ CD45.1+ T cells transgenic for the OT-1 T cell receptor (which recognizes Listeria monocytogenes expressing ovalbumin (Lm-ova)) were adoptively transferred into congenic wild-type CD45.2 C57/B6J recipients, followed by infection intravenously one day later with 5 x 103 colony-forming units (CFU) of Lm-OVA. Splenocytes were isolated from recipient mice at 5, 7, or 45 days post-infection. To isolate cells at 3 days post-infection, 2 x 104 OT-1 CD8+ T cells were adoptively transferred. To isolate cells that had undergone their first division, 2 x 106 OT-1 CD8+ T cells were first labeled with carboxyfluorescein diacetate succinimidyl ester (CFSE) prior to adoptive transfer and recipient mice were sacrificed at 48 hours post-infection. Unactivated naM-CM-/ve OT-1 CD45.1+ CD8+ T cells were also included. Cells were stained with fluorochrome-labeled antibodies against CD8, CD44, CD4, CD11b, CD11c, and F4/80, and sorted on a MoFlo (Beckman Coulter) or FACS Aria II (BD Biosciences) flow cytometer. The Ct value for each gene analyzed in each individual cell at each time point is reported in the Matrix non-normalized. The 94 ABI TaqMan Assay IDs are listed on the left (A2-A96), along with the accession number (B2-B96) and corresponding gene name (C2-C96) of each gene studied. The Il2 gene expression assay was duplicated. Each heading (D1-BCV)) represents a single cell from each of 13 timepoints or T cell subset that were profiled. The timepoints/T cell subsets and number of each cells profiled from each timepoint/T cell subset were: unactivated naM-CM-/ve (149 cells), distal daughter (48), proximal daughter (83), division 1 (144), day 3 post-infection (143), day 5 post-infection memory precursor (Tmp) (90), day 5 post-infection short-lived effector (Tsle) (79), day 5 post-infection (154), day 7 post-infection memory precursor Tmp (62), day 7 post-infection short-lived effector Tsle (89), day 7 post-infection (134), central memory Tcm (138), and effector memory Tem (136).

Project description:CD8+ T-cells inhibit virus replication in SIV-infected rhesus macaques (RM). However, it is unclear to what extent the viral suppression mediated by CD8+ T-cells reflects direct killing of infected cells as opposed to indirect, non-cytolytic mechanisms. In this study, we used functional genomics to investigate potential mechanisms of in vivo viral suppression mediated by CD8+ lymphocytes. Eight chronically SIVmac239-infected RMs underwent CD8+ lymphocyte depletion, and RNA from whole blood was obtained prior to depletion, at the nadir of CD8+ lymphocytes (5 days post-depletion), and during the repopulation phase (11 days post-depletion). Principal components analysis demonstrated that overall gene expression during the nadir of CD8+ T-cells was highly divergent from other intervals. Conversely, the genomic signature of samples from the CD8+ cell rebound phase was similar to that of pre-depletion samples. During CD8+ lymphocyte depletion we detected a strongly significant decrease in the expression of the genes encoding CD8α and CD8β chains, consistent with the near complete CD8+ T-cell depletion measured by flow cytometry. Of note, we observed significant down-regulation of the expression of genes encoding for factors that can suppress SIV replication, including the CCR5-binding chemokine CCL5/Rantes, several retroviral restriction factors (TRIM10, TRIM15, APOBEC3G/H) and defensins. Reduced expression of various genes related to T cell activation and proliferation was also observed. Collectively, these data indicate that depletion of CD8+ lymphocytes in SIV-infected RMs is associated with the establishment of a pattern of gene expression that may result in increased intrinsic permissivity to virus replication. A total of 60 RNA samples were hybridized on to Rhesus Affymetrix 3' Expression arrays. The study was composed of 8 replicate rhesus macaques subjected to SIVmac239 infection and followed over infection, during subsequent treatment with monocloncal antibody OKT8F to deplete CD8+ T lymphocytes, antiretroviral therapy to suppress virus. Samples were taken at various time points during acute and chronic infection, after CD8+ cell depletion, after CD8+ cell reconstition, and during ART suppression of virus.

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Early transcriptional and epigenetic regulation of CD8+ T cell differentiation revealed by single-cell RNA-seq

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