Pluto Bioinformatics

GSE89848: Id proteins suppress E2A-driven iNKT cell development prior to TCR selection [RNA-seq]

Bulk RNA sequencing

Id proteins have been shown to promote the differentiation of conventional and T cells, and to suppress the expansion of invariant Natural Killer T (iNKT) cells and innate-like NKT within their respective cell lineages. However, it remains to be determined whether Id proteins regulate lineage specification in developing T cells that give rise to these distinct cell fates. Here we report that in the absence of Id2 and Id3 proteins, E2A prematurely activates genes critical for the iNKT cell lineage prior to TCR expression. Lack of Id proteins also promotes a biased TCR rearrangement in favor of iNKT cell fate prior to selection at the CD4+CD8+ double positive (DP) stage. Enhanced iNKT development in Id3-deficient mice lacking NKT cells suggests that Id3 regulates the lineage competition between these populations. RNA-Seq analysis establishes E2A as the transcriptional regulator of both iNKT and NKT development. In the absence of pre-TCR signaling, Id2/Id3 deletion gives rise to a large population of iNKT cells and a unique innate-like DP population, despite the block in conventional T cell development. The transcriptional profile of these unique DP cells reflects enrichment of innate-like signature genes, including PLZF (Zbtb16) and Granzyme A (Gzma). Results from these genetic models and genome-wide analyses suggest that Id proteins suppress E2A-driven innate-like T cell programs prior to TCR selection to enforce predominance of conventional T cells. SOURCE: Yuan Zhuang (yuan.zhuang@duke.edu) - Zhuang lab Duke University