ATAC sequencing of Tcf7 and Prdm1 deficient T cells
The transcription factors Tcf7 (encoding TCF1) and Prdm1 (encoding Blimp1) exhibit opposing effects on T cell differentiation. While TCF1 promotes the maintenance of T progenitor exhausted cells, Blimp1 drives their differentiation into terminally exhausted effector cells. However, the impact of the combined deletion of these factors on CD8 T cell differentiation remains to be defined. We found that CD8 T cells in which TCF1 and Blimp1 are both ablated exhibit a TPEX surface phenotype in chronic infection but fail to expand in recall settings. To better understand how these factors poise T cells to respond to antigen encounter, bulk ATAC-sequencing was performed on TPEX cells from individual and combined transcription factor deficient CD8 T cells.