Project description:Cellular binary fate decisions require the progeny to silence genes associated with the alternative fate. The major subsets of alpha:beta T cells have been extensively studied as a model system for fate decisions. While the transcription factor RUNX3 is required for the initiation of Cd4 silencing in CD8 T cell progenitors, it is not required to maintain the silencing of Cd4 and other helper T lineage genes. The other runt domain containing protein, RUNX1, silences Cd4 in an earlier T cell progenitor, but this silencing is reversed whereas the gene silencing after RUNX3 expression is not reverse. Therefore, we hypothesized that RUNX3 and not RUNX1 recruits other factors that maintains the silencing of helper T lineage genes in CD8 T cells. To this end, we performed a proteomics screen of RUNX1 and RUNX3 to determine candidate silencing factors.
Project description:Gene expression data from wild-type and Bcl6-/- naive CD4 T cells In order to find genes regulated by Bcl6 in follicular helper T cells Naïve CD4 T cells were sorted from wild-type (WT) and T cell-specific conditional Bcl6-/- (KO) mice-- 8 samples, 4 WT and 4 KO
Project description:Gene expression data from wild-type and Bcl6-/- naive CD4 T cells In order to find genes regulated by Bcl6 in follicular helper T cells Naïve CD4 T cells were sorted from wild-type (WT) and T cell-specific conditional Bcl6-/- (KO) mice-- 8 samples, 4 WT and 4 KO
Project description:Naïve CD4+ T cells coordinate the immune response by acquiring an effector phenotype in response to cytokines. However, the cytokine responses in memory T cells remain largely understudied. We used quantitative proteomics, bulk RNA-seq and single-cell RNA-seq of over 40,000 human naïve and memory CD4+ T cells to generate a detailed map of cytokine-regulated gene expression programs. We demonstrated that cytokine response differs substantially between naïve and memory T cells and showed that memory cells are unable to differentiate into the Th2 phenotype. Moreover, memory T cells acquire a Th17-like phenotype in response to iTreg polarization. At the single-cell level, we demonstrated that T cells form a continuum which progresses from naïve to effector memory T cells. This continuum is accompanied by a gradual increase in the expression levels of chemokines and cytokines and thus represents an effectorness gradient. Finally, we found that T cell cytokine responses are determined by where the cells lie in the effectorness gradient and identified genes whose expression is controlled by cytokines in an effectorness-dependent manner. Our results shed light on the heterogeneity of T cells and their responses to cytokines, provide insight into immune disease inflammation and could inform drug development.