GSE127734
TNIK signaling imprints CD8+ T memory formation early after priming
Purpose: The goal of this study is to compare NGS-derived transcriptome profiling (RNA-seq) of naïve/ effector (D6)/ memory (D80) p14 T cell [wild-type (WT) and Tnik-/- (KO)] isolated form spleen of naïve or adoptively transferred and LCMV-WE immunized mice. Methods: Transcriptomic profiles of splenic naïve wild-type (WT) and Tnik-/- (KO) p14 T cells (8-week-old mice) or splenic effector (D6) and memory (D80) p14 T cells (post adoptive transfer and LCMV-WE immunization) were assessed in duplicates or triplicate by deep sequencing, using Illumina HiSeq 2500. qRT–PCR validation was performed using TaqMan and SYBR Green assays. Results: We mapped about 30 million sequence reads per sample to the mouse genome (GRCm38 - mm10) and identified expressed transcripts in splenic WT and Tnik-/- p14 T cells. RNA-seq data confirmed stable expression of known housekeeping genes. Differentially expressed genes between the WT and Tnik-/- p14 T cells from naïve, D6 or D80 were identified with a fold change =1.5 and p-value <0.05. Hierarchical clustering and gene ontology analysis of differentially expressed genes uncovered genes that may contribute to regulation of stemness, transcriptional regulation, cell cycle regulation, survival and function of T cells. Conclusions: Our study represents the first detailed transcriptome analysis of WT versus Tnik-/- p14 T cells in the context of acute viral infection, with biologic replicates, generated by RNA-seq technology. Our results show that TNIK regulates T cell fate. Evaluation of mRNA content in effector (D6) and memory (D80) p14 T cells revealed that TNIK-deficiency during T cell activation enhances proliferation, terminal differentiation and glycolysis of effector T cells, while compromising steady-state metabolic activity of memory T cells. We conclude that TNIK imprints memory formation early after CD8+ T cell priming. Overall design: mRNA of naïve and adoptively transferred D6 or D80 wild-type (WT) and knock-out (KO) p14 Tcells isolated from spleen of naïve and LCMV-WE immunized mice, using Illumina HiSeq 2500.