| First Author | Park JY | Year | 2019 |
| Journal | Cell Rep | Volume | 27 |
| Issue | 9 | Pages | 2548-2557.e4 |
| PubMed ID | 31141681 | Mgi Jnum | J:298862 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:6489162 | Doi | 10.1016/j.celrep.2019.05.012 |
| Citation | Park JY, et al. (2019) Quantitative Difference in PLZF Protein Expression Determines iNKT Lineage Fate and Controls Innate CD8 T Cell Generation. Cell Rep 27(9):2548-2557.e4 |
| abstractText | Zbtb16 encodes the zinc-finger protein PLZF, which is often used as a lineage marker for innate-like T cells and is specifically required for the generation of invariant natural killer T (iNKT) cells in the thymus. Here, we report that not only PLZF expression itself but also the relative abundance of PLZF proteins plays critical roles in iNKT cell development. Utilizing a Zbtb16 hypomorphic allele, PLZF(GFPCre), which produces PLZF proteins at only half of the level of the wild-type allele, we show that decreased PLZF expression results in a significant decrease in iNKT cell numbers, which is further associated with profound alterations in iNKT lineage choices and subset composition. These results document that there is a quantitative aspect of PLZF expression in iNKT cells, demonstrating that the availability of PLZF protein is a critical factor for both effective iNKT cell generation and subset differentiation. |
