A ThPOK-LRF transcriptional node maintains the integrity and effector potential of post-thymic CD4(+) T cells

作者：Vacchio Melanie S; Wang Lie; Bouladoux Nicolas; Carpenter Andrea C; Xiong Yumei; Wohlfert Elizabeth; Song Ki Duk; Belkaid Yasmine; Love Paul E; Bosselut Remy^*

来源：Nature Immunology, 2014, 15(10): 947-U192.

DOI：10.1038/ni.2960

The transcription factor ThPOK promotes CD4(+) T cell differentiation in the thymus. Here, using a mouse strain that allows post-thymic gene deletion, we show that ThPOK maintains CD4(+) T lineage integrity and couples effector differentiation to environmental cues after antigenic stimulation. ThPOK preserved the integrity and amplitude of effector responses and was required for proper differentiation of types 1 and 2 helper T cells in vivo by restraining the expression and function of Runx3, a nuclear factor crucial for cytotoxic T cell differentiation. The transcription factor LRF acts redundantly with ThPOK to prevent the transdifferentiation of mature CD4(+) T cells into CD8(+) T cells. As such, the ThPOK-LRF transcriptional module was essential for CD4(+) T cell integrity and responses.

• 出版日期2014-10
• 单位NIH