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Transcriptional control of T cell tissue adaptation and effector function in infants and adults

Szabo, P. A.; Levitin, H. M.; Connors, T. J.; Chen, D.; Jin, J.; Thapa, P.; Guyer, R.; Caron, D. P.; Gray, J. I.; Matsumoto, R.; Kubota, M.; Brusko, M.; Brusko, T. M.; Farber, D. L.; Sims, P. A.

2025-02-06 immunology
10.1101/2025.02.01.636039 bioRxiv
Show abstract

The first years of life are essential for the development of memory T cells, which rapidly populate the bodys diverse tissue sites during infancy. However, the degree to which tissue memory T cell responses in early life reflect those during adulthood is unclear. Here, we use single cell RNA-sequencing of resting and ex vivo activated T cells from lymphoid and mucosal tissues of infant (aged 2-9 months) and adult (aged 40-65 years) human organ donors to dissect the transcriptional programming of memory T cells over age. Infant memory T cells demonstrate a unique stem-like transcriptional profile and tissue adaptation program, yet exhibit reduced activation capacity and effector function relative to adults. Using CRISPR-Cas9 knockdown, we define Helios (IKZF2) as a critical transcriptional regulator of the infant-specific tissue adaptation program and restricted effector state. Our findings reveal key transcriptional mechanisms that control tissue T cell fate and function in early life.

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