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Single molecule imaging of transcription dynamics, RNA localization and fate in T cells

Lattanzio, M. V.; Sostaric, N.; Kanagasabesan, N.; Popovic, B.; Bradaric, A.; Wardak, L.; Guislain, A.; Savakis, P. E.; Tutucci, E.; Wolkers, M. C.

2025-05-08 immunology
10.1101/2024.11.11.622939 bioRxiv
Show abstract

T cells are critical effector cells against infections and malignancies. To achieve this, they produce pro-inflammatory cytokines, including IFN-{gamma} and TNF. Cytokine production is a tightly regulated process. The relative contribution of transcriptional and post-transcriptional regulation to mRNA expression is, however, unknown. We therefore optimized single-molecule FISH for primary human T cells (T-cell smFISH) to simultaneously quantify nascent RNA, mature mRNA levels and its localization with single-cell resolution. T-cell smFISH uncovered heterogeneous cytokine mRNA levels, with high cytokine producers displaying biallelic IFNG/TNF RNA transcription activity. Throughout activation, nuclear cytokine mRNAs accumulated, whereas cytoplasmic cytokine mRNA was degraded through translation-dependent decay. Lastly, T-cell smFISH uncovered cytokine-specific regulation by the RNA-binding protein HuR. Thus, T-cell smFISH provides novel insights in the intricate (post)-transcriptional processes in T cells.

Published in The EMBO Journal (predicted rank #26) · training set

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