Search

In tumors, a subset of CD8 + T cells expressing the transcription factor TCF-1 drives the response to immune checkpoint blockade. We examined the mechanisms that maintain these cells in an autochthonous model of lung adenocarcinoma. Longitudinal sampling and single-cell sequencing of tumor-antigen specific TCF-1 + CD8 + T cells revealed that while intratumoral TCF-1 + CD8 + T cells acquired dysfunctional features and decreased in number as tumors progressed, TCF-1 + CD8 + T cell frequency in the tumor draining LN (dLN) remained stable. Two discrete intratumoral TCF-1 + CD8 + T cell subsets developed over time-a proliferative SlamF6 + subset and a non-cycling SlamF6 - subset. Blocking dLN egress decreased the frequency of intratumoral SlamF6 + TCF-1 + CD8 + T cells. Conventional type I dendritic cell (cDC1) in dLN decreased in number with tumor progression, and Flt3L+anti-CD40 treatment recovered SlamF6 + T cell frequencies and decreased tumor burden. Thus, cDC1s in tumor dLN maintain a reservoir of TCF-1 + CD8 + T cells and their decrease contributes to failed anti-tumor immunity., Competing Interests: Declaration of interests T.J. is a member of the Board of Directors of Amgen and Thermo Fisher Scientific. He is also a co-founder of Dragonfly Therapeutics and T2 Biosystems. T.J. serves on the Scientific Advisory Board of Dragonfly Therapeutics, SQZ Biotech, and Skyhawk Therapeutics. He is the President of Break Through Cancer. None of these affiliations represent a conflict of interest with respect to the design or execution of this study or interpretation of data presented in this manuscript. T.J. laboratory currently also receives funding from the Johnson & Johnson Lung Cancer Initiative and The Lustgarten Foundation for Pancreatic Cancer Research, but this funding did not support the research described in this manuscript. A.R. is a co-founder and equity holder of Celsius Therapeutics, an equity holder in Immunitas, and was an SAB member of ThermoFisher Scientific, Syros Pharmaceuticals, Neogene Therapeutics and Asimov until July 31, 2020. From August 1, 2020, A.R. is an employee of Genentech., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Innate lymphoid cells (ILCs) are generated early during ontogeny and persist predominantly as tissue-resident cells. Here, we examined how ILCs are maintained and renewed within tissues. We generated a single cell atlas of lung ILC2s and found that Il18r1 + ILCs comprise circulating and tissue-resident ILC progenitors (ILCP) and effector-cells with heterogeneous expression of the transcription factors Tcf7 and Zbtb16, and CD103. Our analyses revealed a continuous differentiation trajectory from Il18r1 + ST2 - ILCPs to Il18r - ST2 + ILC2s, which was experimentally validated. Upon helminth infection, recruited and BM-derived cells generated the entire spectrum of ILC2s in parabiotic and shield chimeric mice, consistent with their potential role in the renewal of tissue ILC2s. Our findings identify local ILCPs and reveal ILCP in situ differentiation and tissue adaptation as a mechanism of ILC maintenance and phenotypic diversification. Local niches, rather than progenitor origin, or the developmental window during ontogeny, may dominantly imprint ILC phenotypes in adult tissues., Competing Interests: Declaration of Interests The authors declare no competing interests., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

CD8 + T cell exhaustion impedes control of chronic viral infection; yet how new T cell responses are mounted during chronic infection is unclear. Unlike T cells primed at the onset of infection that rapidly differentiate into effectors and exhaust, we demonstrate that virus-specific CD8 + T cells primed after establishment of chronic LCMV infection preferentially generate memory-like transcription factor TCF1 + cells that were transcriptionally and proteomically distinct, less exhausted, and more responsive to immunotherapy. Mechanistically, adaptations of antigen-presenting cells and diminished T cell signaling intensity promoted differentiation of the memory-like subset at the expense of rapid effector cell differentiation, which was now highly dependent on IL-21-mediated CD4 + T cell help for its functional generation. Chronic viral infection similarly redirected de novo differentiation of tumor-specific CD8 + T cells, ultimately preventing cancer control. Thus, targeting these T cell stimulatory pathways could enable strategies to control chronic infection, tumors, and enhance immunotherapeutic efficacy., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

The TCF-1 and LEF-1 transcription factors are known to play critical roles in normal thymocyte development. Unexpectedly, we found that TCF-1-deficient (Tcf7(-/-)) mice developed aggressive T cell malignancy, resembling human T cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL). LEF-1 was aberrantly upregulated in premalignant Tcf7(-/-) early thymocytes and lymphoma cells. We further demonstrated that TCF-1 directly repressed LEF-1 expression in early thymocytes and that conditional inactivation of Lef1 greatly delayed or prevented T cell malignancy in Tcf7(-/-) mice. In human T-ALLs, an early thymic progenitor (ETP) subtype was associated with diminished TCF7 expression, and two of the ETP-ALL cases harbored TCF7 gene deletions. We also showed that TCF-1 and LEF-1 were dispensable for T cell lineage commitment but instead were required for early thymocytes to mature beyond the CD4(-)CD8(-) stage. TCF-1 thus has dual roles, i.e., acting cooperatively with LEF-1 to promote thymocyte maturation while restraining LEF-1 expression to prevent malignant transformation of developing thymocytes., (Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

T cell factor 1 (TCF-1) is a transcription factor known to act downstream of the canonical Wnt pathway and is essential for normal T cell development. However, its physiological roles in mature CD8(+) T cell responses are unknown. Here we showed that TCF-1 deficiency limited proliferation of CD8(+) effector T cells and impaired their differentiation toward a central memory phenotype. Moreover, TCF-1-deficient memory CD8(+) T cells were progressively lost over time, exhibiting reduced expression of the antiapoptotic molecule Bcl-2 and interleukin-2 receptor beta chain and diminished IL-15-driven proliferation. TCF-1 was directly associated with the Eomes allele and the Wnt-TCF-1 pathway was necessary and sufficient for optimal Eomes expression in naive and memory CD8(+) T cells. Importantly, forced expression of Eomes partly protected TCF-1-deficient memory CD8(+) T cells from time-dependent attrition. Our studies thus identify TCF-1 as a critical player in a transcriptional program that regulates memory CD8 differentiation and longevity., (Copyright 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)