Project description:Tissue-resident memory T cells (Trm) are non-circulating memory T cells that localize to portals of pathogen entry such as the skin, gut and lung where they provide efficient early protection against reinfection. Trm are characterized by a molecular profile that actively prevents egress from peripheral sites including the constitutive expression of the lectin CD69 and down-regulation of the chemokine receptor (CCR)7 and sphingosine-1-phosphate receptor 1 (S1PR1). This program is partially mediated by down-regulation of the transcription factor KLF2; however, to date no transcriptional regulator specific to Trm has been identified. Here we show that the Blimp1 related transcription factor Hobit is specifically upregulated in Trm and together with Blimp1, mediates the development and maintenance of Trm in various tissues including skin, gut, liver and kidney. Importantly, we found that the Hobit/Blimp1 transcriptional module is also required for other tissue-resident lymphocytes including Natural Killer T (NKT) cells and liver tissue-resident NK cells (trNK). We show that these populations share a universal transcriptional program with Trm instructed by Hobit and Blimp1 that includes the repression of CCR7, S1PR1 and KLF2 thereby enforcing tissue retention. Our results identify Hobit and Blimp1 as major common regulators that drive the differentiation of distinct populations of tissue-resident lymphocytes.
Project description:Tissue-resident memory T cells (Trm) permanently localize to portals of pathogen entry, where they provide immediate protection against re-infection. To enforce tissue retention, Trm upregulate CD69 and downregulate molecules associated with tissue egress including CCR7 and S1PR1. Although suppression of the transcription factor KLF2 in Trm prevents S1PR1-driven migration, a Trm-specific transcriptional regulator has not been identified. Here, we show that the transcription factor Hobit is specifically upregulated in Trm and together with related Blimp1, mediates the development of Trm in skin, gut, liver and kidney. Importantly, the Hobit/Blimp1 transcriptional module is also required for other populations of tissue-resident lymphocytes including NKT cells and liver-resident NK cells, all of which share a common transcriptional program that includes repression of Ccr7, S1pr1, and Klf2. Our results identify Hobit and Blimp1 as central regulators of this universal program that instructs tissue retention in diverse tissue-resident lymphocyte populations.
Project description:The transcription factor (TF) networks that regulate the differentiation of resident versus circulating memory CD8+ T cells are incompletely understood. Here we show that the TF Bcl11b restricts gut resident memory (Trm) cell differentiation, while promoting splenic T central memory (Tcm) and effector memory (Tem) cell differentiation. The reduction of Bcl11b-deficient splenic Tcm and Tem cells was not due to major alterations in their programs, but rather due to the increased homing of their precursors to the small intestine. However, Bcl11b-deficient resident memory precursor cells upregulated residency program, including the TFs Ahr and Prdm1 (encoding Blimp1), and downregulated Tcf7, which restricts the residency program and promotes tissue egress. Bcl11b directly bound at Ahr and Prdm1, as well as at Tcf7 genes. Abrogating Ahr and Prdm1, or restoration of Tcf7 expression in Bcl11b-deficient cells led to partial correction of the excessive resident memory cell differentiation. Functionally, Bcl11b-deficient memory CD8+ T cells had an impaired recall response, but anti-tumor immunity was increased in adoptive cell therapy. Bcl11b also repressed the residency program in human CD8+ T cells and human Bcl11b low tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes showed increased residency gene expression. Thus, Bcl11b plays a critical role in balancing the circulating and tissue residency programs and reveals a potential novel target for cancer immunotherapies.
Project description:The transcription factor (TF) networks that regulate the differentiation of resident versus circulating memory CD8+ T cells are incompletely understood. Here we show that the TF Bcl11b restricts gut resident memory (Trm) cell differentiation, while promoting splenic T central memory (Tcm) and effector memory (Tem) cell differentiation. The reduction of Bcl11b-deficient splenic Tcm and Tem cells was not due to major alterations in their programs, but rather due to the increased homing of their precursors to the small intestine. However, Bcl11b-deficient resident memory precursor cells upregulated residency program, including the TFs Ahr and Prdm1 (encoding Blimp1), and downregulated Tcf7, which restricts the residency program and promotes tissue egress. Bcl11b directly bound at Ahr and Prdm1, as well as at Tcf7 genes. Abrogating Ahr and Prdm1, or restoration of Tcf7 expression in Bcl11b-deficient cells led to partial correction of the excessive resident memory cell differentiation. Functionally, Bcl11b-deficient memory CD8+ T cells had an impaired recall response, but anti-tumor immunity was increased in adoptive cell therapy. Bcl11b also repressed the residency program in human CD8+ T cells and human Bcl11b low tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes showed increased residency gene expression. Thus, Bcl11b plays a critical role in balancing the circulating and tissue residency programs and reveals a potential novel target for cancer immunotherapies.
Project description:The transcription factor (TF) networks that regulate the differentiation of resident versus circulating memory CD8+ T cells are incompletely understood. Here we show that the TF Bcl11b restricts gut resident memory (Trm) cell differentiation, while promoting splenic T central memory (Tcm) and effector memory (Tem) cell differentiation. The reduction of Bcl11b-deficient splenic Tcm and Tem cells was not due to major alterations in their programs, but rather due to the increased homing of their precursors to the small intestine. However, Bcl11b-deficient resident memory precursor cells upregulated residency program, including the TFs Ahr and Prdm1 (encoding Blimp1), and downregulated Tcf7, which restricts the residency program and promotes tissue egress. Bcl11b directly bound at Ahr and Prdm1, as well as at Tcf7 genes. Abrogating Ahr and Prdm1, or restoration of Tcf7 expression in Bcl11b-deficient cells led to partial correction of the excessive resident memory cell differentiation. Functionally, Bcl11b-deficient memory CD8+ T cells had an impaired recall response, but anti-tumor immunity was increased in adoptive cell therapy. Bcl11b also repressed the residency program in human CD8+ T cells and human Bcl11b low tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes showed increased residency gene expression. Thus, Bcl11b plays a critical role in balancing the circulating and tissue residency programs and reveals a potential novel target for cancer immunotherapies.
Project description:The networks of transcription factors (TFs) that control multipotency versus effector programs in intestinal resident memory T (TRM) cells are poorly understood. Mice with post-activation, conditional deletion of the TF Bcl11b in CD8+ T cells, infected with a food-born pathogen, had increased numbers of intestinal TRM cells, and their precursors and decreased splenic effector cells and circulating memory cells and precursors. Loss of circulating memory cells was in part due to increased intestinal homing of Bcl11b-/- circulating precursors with no major alterations in their programs. Bcl11b-/- memory CD8+ T cells had an impaired recall response despite their accumulation in the gut. Intestinal Bcl11b-/- TRM cells and their precursors manifested major alterations in the residency program, with diminished expression of multipotency program genes and upregulation of the effector program genes. Integration of transcriptomics with chromatin accessibility, activating histone marks and Bcl11b genome binding showed a link between the reduction in the multipotent program genes with regions of decreased chromatin accessibility and activating histone marks in Bcl11b-/- cells. In contrast, the effector program genes displayed increased activating epigenetic status. We propose that Bcl11b regulates tissue resident TRM program genes and is positioned upstream of Tcf1 and Blimp1 in regulation of multipotency versus effector TRM program, respectively. Rescuing experiments normalized the increased numbers of intestinal Bcl11b-/- TRM cells. Thus, Bcl11b is a frontrunner in the memory tissue residency program and acts early in lineage decision, promoting TRM cell multipotency and restricting effector function.
Project description:The networks of transcription factors (TFs) that control multipotency versus effector programs in intestinal resident memory T (TRM) cells are poorly understood. Mice with post-activation, conditional deletion of the TF Bcl11b in CD8+ T cells, infected with a food-born pathogen, had increased numbers of intestinal TRM cells, and their precursors and decreased splenic effector cells and circulating memory cells and precursors. Loss of circulating memory cells was in part due to increased intestinal homing of Bcl11b-/- circulating precursors with no major alterations in their programs. Bcl11b-/- memory CD8+ T cells had an impaired recall response despite their accumulation in the gut. Intestinal Bcl11b-/- TRM cells and their precursors manifested major alterations in the residency program, with diminished expression of multipotency program genes and upregulation of the effector program genes. Integration of transcriptomics with chromatin accessibility, activating histone marks and Bcl11b genome binding showed a link between the reduction in the multipotent program genes with regions of decreased chromatin accessibility and activating histone marks in Bcl11b-/- cells. In contrast, the effector program genes displayed increased activating epigenetic status. We propose that Bcl11b regulates tissue resident TRM program genes and is positioned upstream of Tcf1 and Blimp1 in regulation of multipotency versus effector TRM program, respectively. Rescuing experiments normalized the increased numbers of intestinal Bcl11b-/- TRM cells. Thus, Bcl11b is a frontrunner in the memory tissue residency program and acts early in lineage decision, promoting TRM cell multipotency and restricting effector function.
Project description:The networks of transcription factors (TFs) that control multipotency versus effector programs in intestinal resident memory T (TRM) cells are poorly understood. Mice with post-activation, conditional deletion of the TF Bcl11b in CD8+ T cells, infected with a food-born pathogen, had increased numbers of intestinal TRM cells, and their precursors and decreased splenic effector cells and circulating memory cells and precursors. Loss of circulating memory cells was in part due to increased intestinal homing of Bcl11b-/- circulating precursors with no major alterations in their programs. Bcl11b-/- memory CD8+ T cells had an impaired recall response despite their accumulation in the gut. Intestinal Bcl11b-/- TRM cells and their precursors manifested major alterations in the residency program, with diminished expression of multipotency program genes and upregulation of the effector program genes. Integration of transcriptomics with chromatin accessibility, activating histone marks and Bcl11b genome binding showed a link between the reduction in the multipotent program genes with regions of decreased chromatin accessibility and activating histone marks in Bcl11b-/- cells. In contrast, the effector program genes displayed increased activating epigenetic status. We propose that Bcl11b regulates tissue resident TRM program genes and is positioned upstream of Tcf1 and Blimp1 in regulation of multipotency versus effector TRM program, respectively. Rescuing experiments normalized the increased numbers of intestinal Bcl11b-/- TRM cells. Thus, Bcl11b is a frontrunner in the memory tissue residency program and acts early in lineage decision, promoting TRM cell multipotency and restricting effector function.
Project description:The networks of transcription factors (TFs) that control multipotency versus effector programs in intestinal resident memory T (TRM) cells are poorly understood. Mice with post-activation, conditional deletion of the TF Bcl11b in CD8+ T cells, infected with a food-born pathogen, had increased numbers of intestinal TRM cells, and their precursors and decreased splenic effector cells and circulating memory cells and precursors. Loss of circulating memory cells was in part due to increased intestinal homing of Bcl11b-/- circulating precursors with no major alterations in their programs. Bcl11b-/- memory CD8+ T cells had an impaired recall response despite their accumulation in the gut. Intestinal Bcl11b-/- TRM cells and their precursors manifested major alterations in the residency program, with diminished expression of multipotency program genes and upregulation of the effector program genes. Integration of transcriptomics with chromatin accessibility, activating histone marks and Bcl11b genome binding showed a link between the reduction in the multipotent program genes with regions of decreased chromatin accessibility and activating histone marks in Bcl11b-/- cells. In contrast, the effector program genes displayed increased activating epigenetic status. We propose that Bcl11b regulates tissue resident TRM program genes and is positioned upstream of Tcf1 and Blimp1 in regulation of multipotency versus effector TRM program, respectively. Rescuing experiments normalized the increased numbers of intestinal Bcl11b-/- TRM cells. Thus, Bcl11b is a frontrunner in the memory tissue residency program and acts early in lineage decision, promoting TRM cell multipotency and restricting effector function.