The transcriptional landscape of αβ T cell differentiation
Author(s)
Regev, Aviv
DownloadRegev_The transcriptional.pdf (4.075Mb)
OPEN_ACCESS_POLICY
Open Access Policy
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike
Terms of use
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
The differentiation of αβT cells from thymic precursors is a complex process essential for adaptive immunity. Here we exploited the breadth of expression data sets from the Immunological Genome Project to analyze how the differentiation of thymic precursors gives rise to mature T cell transcriptomes. We found that early T cell commitment was driven by unexpectedly gradual changes. In contrast, transit through the CD4[superscript +]CD8[superscript +] stage involved a global shutdown of housekeeping genes that is rare among cells of the immune system and correlated tightly with expression of the transcription factor c-Myc. Selection driven by major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecules promoted a large-scale transcriptional reactivation. We identified distinct signatures that marked cells destined for positive selection versus apoptotic deletion. Differences in the expression of unexpectedly few genes accompanied commitment to the CD4[superscript +] or CD8[superscript +] lineage, a similarity that carried through to peripheral T cells and their activation, demonstrated by mass cytometry phosphoproteomics. The transcripts newly identified as encoding candidate mediators of key transitions help define the 'known unknowns' of thymocyte differentiation.
Date issued
2013-05Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of BiologyJournal
Nature Immunology
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group
Citation
Mingueneau, Michael, Taras Kreslavsky, Daniel Gray, Tracy Heng, Richard Cruse, Jeffrey Ericson, Sean Bendall, et al. “The transcriptional landscape of αβ T cell differentiation.” Nature Immunology 14, no. 6 (May 5, 2013): 619-632.
Version: Author's final manuscript
ISSN
1529-2908
1529-2916