Gene expression data from Zeb2WT, Zeb2KO, T-betWT and T-betKO effector CD8+ T cells during infection

ZEB2 is a multi-zinc-finger transcription factor known to play a significant role in early neurogenesis and in EMT-dependent tumor metastasis. While the function of ZEB2 in T lymphocytes is unknown, activity of the closely related family member ZEB1 has been implicated in lymphocyte development. Here, we find that ZEB2 expression is upregulated by activated T cells, specifically in the KLRG1hi effector CD8+ T cell subset. Loss of ZEB2 expression results in a significant loss of antigen-specific CD8+ T cells following primary and secondary infection with a severe impairment in the generation of the KLRG1hi effector-memory cell population. We show that ZEB2, which can bind DNA at tandem, consensus E-box sites, regulates gene expression of several E-protein targets and may directly repress CD127 and IL-2 in CD8+ T cells responding to infection. Furthermore, we find that T-bet binds to highly conserved T-box-sites in the ZEB2 gene and that T-bet and ZEB2 regulate similar gene-expression programs in effector T cells, suggesting that T-bet acts upstream and through regulation of ZEB2. Taken together, we place ZEB2 in a larger transcriptional network that is responsible for the balance between terminal differentiation and formation of memory CD8+ T cells.

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Omilusik KD, Best JA, Yu B, Goossens S, Weidemann A, Nguyen JV, Seuntjens E, Stryjewska A, Zweier C, Roychoudhuri R, Gattinoni L, Bird LM, Higashi Y, Kondoh H, Huylebroeck D, Haigh J, Goldrath AW