GSE137121
RNA-seq of CD4+ T cell subsets in LCMV infection
T follicular helper (TFH) cells are a distinct type of CD4 T cells that are essential for most antibody and B lymphocyte responses. TFH regulation and dysregulation is involved in a range of diseases. Bcl6 is the lineage defining transcription factor of TFH cells and its activity is essential for TFH cell differentiation and function. However, how Bcl6 controls TFH biology has largely remained unclear, at least in part due to intrinsic challenges of connecting repressors to gene upregulation in complex cell types with multiple possible differentiation fates. Multiple competing models were tested here by a series of experimental approaches to determine that Bcl6 exhibits negative autoregulation and controls pleiotropic attributes of TFH differentiation and function (migration, costimulation, inhibitory receptors, and cytokines) via multiple repressor-of-repressor gene circuits. Overall design: 7 samples, 3 replicates each, naïve or Day 7 LCMV infection, SMARTA CD4 T cell subsets