| First Author | Chen Z | Year | 2019 |
| Journal | Immunity | Volume | 51 |
| Issue | 5 | Pages | 840-855.e5 |
| PubMed ID | 31606264 | Mgi Jnum | J:282315 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:6380914 | Doi | 10.1016/j.immuni.2019.09.013 |
| Citation | Chen Z, et al. (2019) TCF-1-Centered Transcriptional Network Drives an Effector versus Exhausted CD8 T Cell-Fate Decision. Immunity 51(5):840-855.e5 |
| abstractText | TCF-1 is a key transcription factor in progenitor exhausted CD8 T cells (Tex). Moreover, this Tex cell subset mediates responses to PD-1 checkpoint pathway blockade. However, the role of the transcription factor TCF-1 in early fate decisions and initial generation of Tex cells is unclear. Single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) and lineage tracing identified a TCF-1(+)Ly108(+)PD-1(+) CD8 T cell population that seeds development of mature Tex cells early during chronic infection. TCF-1 mediated the bifurcation between divergent fates, repressing development of terminal KLRG1(Hi) effectors while fostering KLRG1(Lo) Tex precursor cells, and PD-1 stabilized this TCF-1(+) Tex precursor cell pool. TCF-1 mediated a T-bet-to-Eomes transcription factor transition in Tex precursors by promoting Eomes expression and drove c-Myb expression that controlled Bcl-2 and survival. These data define a role for TCF-1 in early-fate-bifurcation-driving Tex precursor cells and also identify PD-1 as a protector of this early TCF-1 subset. |