title: Innate-like functions of natural killer T cell subsets result from highly divergent gene programs.
abstract: Natural killer T cells (NKT cells) have stimulatory or inhibitory effects on the immune response that can be attributed in part to the existence of functional subsets of NKT cells. These subsets have been characterized only on the basis of the differential expression of a few transcription factors and cell-surface molecules. Here we have analyzed purified populations of thymic NKT cell subsets at both the transcriptomic level and epigenomic level and by single-cell RNA sequencing. Our data indicated that despite their similar antigen specificity, the functional NKT cell subsets were highly divergent populations with many gene-expression and epigenetic differences. Therefore, the thymus 'imprints' distinct gene programs on subsets of innate-like NKT cells that probably impart differences in proliferative capacity, homing, and effector functions.
authors.affiliation: La Jolla Institute for Allergy &Immunology, La Jolla, California, USA.
authors.forename: Isaac
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Engel
authors.affiliation: La Jolla Institute for Allergy &Immunology, La Jolla, California, USA.
authors.forename: Grégory
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-8164-6852
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Seumois
authors.affiliation: La Jolla Institute for Allergy &Immunology, La Jolla, California, USA.
authors.forename: Lukas
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Chavez
authors.affiliation: La Jolla Institute for Allergy &Immunology, La Jolla, California, USA.
authors.forename: Daniela
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Samaniego-Castruita
authors.affiliation: La Jolla Institute for Allergy &Immunology, La Jolla, California, USA.
authors.forename: Brandie
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: White
authors.affiliation: La Jolla Institute for Allergy &Immunology, La Jolla, California, USA.
authors.forename: Ashu
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Chawla
authors.affiliation: David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA.
authors.forename: Dennis
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Mock
authors.affiliation: La Jolla Institute for Allergy &Immunology, La Jolla, California, USA.|Clinical and Experimental Sciences, Southampton NIHR Respiratory Biomedical Research Unit, Faculty of Medicine, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK.
authors.forename: Pandurangan
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Vijayanand
authors.affiliation: La Jolla Institute for Allergy &Immunology, La Jolla, California, USA.|Division of Biological Sciences, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA.
authors.forename: Mitchell
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kronenberg
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D055610:Antigens, CD1d / Q000378:metabolism; D002465:Cell Movement / Q000235:genetics; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000235:genetics; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D044127:Epigenesis, Genetic; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000276:immunology; D007113:Immunity, Innate; D056484:Jumonji Domain-Containing Histone Demethylases / Q000378:metabolism; D016131:Lymphocyte Subsets / Q000276:immunology*; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D055611:Natural Killer T-Cells / Q000276:immunology*; D017423:Sequence Analysis, RNA; D059010:Single-Cell Analysis; D013950:Thymus Gland / Q000276:immunology*; D059467:Transcriptome
chemical_list: D055610:Antigens, CD1d; C526879:Cd1d1 protein, mouse; D056484:Jumonji Domain-Containing Histone Demethylases; C523761:Kdm6b protein, mouse