Bulk-RNA seq of CD8 T cells (14 days after LCMV-Armstrong infection )
CD8 memory T cells (TMEM) and exhausted T cells (TEX) are essential for host defense against infection and cancer, yet their therapeutic potential is often limited by insufficient persistence and sustained functional capacity. Strategies to enhance the longevity of both populations remain scarce. Here, we demonstrate that ablation of UBE2F, a neddylation E2 enzyme, induces a resilience program in CD8 T cells that operates across both TMEM and TEX compartments, resulting in improved viral and tumor control. This resilience state is characterized by enhanced self-renewal and survival without perturbing the conventional CD8 T cell differentiation trajectories. To investigate the mechanism by which UBE2F regulates CD8 TMEM, we performed bulk RNA-seq analysis on WT and UBE2F KO P14 cells at day 14 post-infection.