| First Author | Savage AK | Year | 2008 |
| Journal | Immunity | Volume | 29 |
| Issue | 3 | Pages | 391-403 |
| PubMed ID | 18703361 | Mgi Jnum | J:139690 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:3809370 | Doi | 10.1016/j.immuni.2008.07.011 |
| Citation | Savage AK, et al. (2008) The transcription factor PLZF directs the effector program of the NKT cell lineage. Immunity 29(3):391-403 |
| abstractText | The transcriptional control of CD1d-restricted NKT cell development has remained elusive. We report that PLZF (promyelocytic leukemia zinc finger, Zbtb16), a member of the BTB/POZ-ZF family of transcription factors that includes the CD4-lineage-specific c-Krox (Th-POK), is exquisitely specific to CD1d-restricted NKT cells and human MR1-specific MAIT cells. PLZF was induced immediately after positive selection of NKT cell precursors, and PLZF-deficient NKT cells failed to undergo the intrathymic expansion and effector differentiation that characterize their lineage. Instead, they preserved a naive phenotype and were directed to lymph nodes. Conversely, transgenic expression of PLZF induced CD4(+) thymocytes to acquire effector differentiation and migrate to nonlymphoid tissues. We suggest that PLZF is a transcriptional signature of NKT cells that directs their innate-like effector differentiation during thymic development. |
