Notch signaling activates T lineage differentiation from hemopoietic progenitors, but relatively few regulators that initiate this program have been identified, e.g., GATA3 and T cell factor-1 (TCF-1) (gene name Tcf7). To identify additional regulators of T cell specification, a cDNA library from mouse Pro-T cells was screened for genes that are specifically up-regulated in intrathymic T cell precursors as compared with myeloid progenitors. Over 90 genes of interest were identified, and 35 of 44 tested were confirmed to be more highly expressed in T lineage precursors relative to precursors of B and/or myeloid lineage. To a remarkable extent, however, expression of these T lineage-enriched genes, including zinc finger transcription factor, helicase, and signaling adaptor genes, was also shared by stem cells (Lin−Sca-1+Kit+CD27−) and multipotent progenitors (Lin−Sca-1+Kit+CD27+), although down-regulated in other lineages. Thus, a major fraction of these early T lineage genes are a regulatory legacy from stem cells. The few genes sharply up-regulated between multipotent progenitors and Pro-T cell stages included those encoding transcription factors Bcl11b, TCF-1 (Tcf7), and HEBalt, Notch target Deltex1, Deltex3L, Fkbp5, Eva1, and Tmem131. Like GATA3 and Deltex1, Bcl11b, Fkbp5, and Eva1 were dependent on Notch/Delta signaling for induction in fetal liver precursors, but only Bcl11b and HEBalt were up-regulated between the first two stages of intrathymic T cell development (double negative 1 and double negative 2) corresponding to T lineage specification. Bcl11b was uniquely T lineage restricted and induced by Notch/Delta signaling specifically upon entry into the T lineage differentiation pathway.

Precursors entering the T-cell developmental pathway traverse a progression of states characterized by distinctive patterns of gene expression. Of particular interest are regulatory genes, which ultimately control the dwell time of cells in each state and establish the mechanisms that propel them forward to subsequent states. Under particular genetic and developmental circumstances, the transitions between these states occur with different timing, and environmental feedbacks may shift the steady-state accumulations of cells in each state. The fetal transit through pro-T cell stages is faster than in the adult, and subject to somewhat different genetic requirements. To explore causes of such variation, this review presents previously unpublished data on differentiation gene activation in pro-T cells of pre-TCR deficient mutant mice, and a quantitative comparison of the profiles of transcription factor gene expression in pro-T cell subsets of fetal and adult wildtype mice. Against a background of consistent gene expression, several regulatory genes show marked differences between fetal and adult expression profiles, including those encoding two bHLH antagonist Id factors, the Ets family factor SpiB, and the Notch target gene Deltex1. The results also reveal global differences in regulatory alterations triggered by the first TCR-dependent selection events in fetal and adult thymopoiesis. SEPARATE STAGES OF THE T-LINEAGE COMMITMENT PROCESS Regulatory requirements: the basic checklistAs hematopoietic multipotent progenitors work their way towards T cell differentiation, they shed other developmental options in a gradual process of T-lineage commitment. Accompanying the commitment process is what can be called the "specification" process, that is, the positive regulation of T-cell gene expression as the cells begin to adopt T-lineage characteristics. Both the positive events that promote T-lineage gene expression and the negative processes that block alternative fates are driven by shifting combinations of transcription factors that propagate new gene-expression and developmental states through successive cell cycles. Immunol Rev. 2006 February ; 209: 212-236. doi:10.1111/j.0105-2896.2006.00355.x. NIH-PA Author ManuscriptNIH-PA Author Manuscript NIH-PA Author ManuscriptThere has been a great deal of progress in the past few years identifying the regulatory inputs that guide T-lineage differentiation (rev. by (1;2); and see M. K. Anderson review, this volume). In general, pro-T cell emergence depends on at least nine different kinds of regulatory contributions, schematically shown in Fig. 1. These come from E2A and HEB bHLH transcription factors, Runx family transcription factors, transcription factor GATA-3, transcription factor c-Myb, Ikaros-type zinc finger family transcription factors, and TCF-1/ LEF-1 HMG box transcription factors activated by β-(or γ-) catenin. An early, hit and run function provided by the Ets family transcription factor PU.1 is also important for establishing the pro-T cell compartment....

Summary Mammalian T lymphocytes are a prototype for development from adult pluripotent stem cells. While T-cell specification is driven by Notch signaling, T-lineage commitment is only finalized after prolonged Notch activation. However, no T-lineage specific regulatory factor has been reported that mediates commitment. We used a gene-discovery approach to identify additional candidate T-lineage transcription factors and characterized expression of >100 regulatory genes in early T-cell precursors using realtime RT-PCR. These regulatory genes were also monitored in multilineage precursors as they entered T-cell or non-T-cell pathways in vitro; in non-T cells ex vivo; and in later T-cell developmental stages after lineage commitment. At least three major expression patterns were observed. Transcription factors in the largest group are expressed at relatively stable levels throughout T-lineage specification as a legacy from prethymic precursors, with some continuing while others are downregulated after commitment. Another group is highly expressed in the earliest stages only, and is downregulated before or during commitment. Genes in a third group undergo upregulation at one of three distinct transitions, suggesting a positive regulatory cascade. However, the transcription factors induced during commitment are not T-lineage specific. Different members of the same transcription factor family can follow opposite trajectories during specification and commitment, while factors co-expressed early can be expressed in divergent patterns in later T-cell development. Some factors reveal new regulatory distinctions between αβ and γδ T-lineage differentiation. These results show that T-cell identity has an essentially complex regulatory basis and provide a detailed framework for regulatory network modeling of T-cell specification.

Choice of a T lymphoid fate by hematopoietic progenitor cells depends on sustained Notch-Delta signaling combined with tightly regulated activities of multiple transcription factors. To dissect the regulatory network connections that mediate this process, we have used high-resolution analysis of regulatory gene expression trajectories from the beginning to the end of specification, tests of the short-term Notch dependence of these gene expression changes, and analyses of the effects of overexpression of two essential transcription factors, namely PU.1 and GATA-3. Quantitative expression measurements of >50 transcription factor and marker genes have been used to derive the principal components of regulatory change through which T cell precursors progress from primitive multipotency to T lineage commitment. Our analyses reveal separate contributions of Notch signaling, GATA-3 activity, and down-regulation of PU.1. Using BioTapestry (www. BioTapestry.org), the results have been assembled into a draft gene regulatory network for the specification of T cell precursors and the choice of T as opposed to myeloid/dendritic or mast-cell fates. This network also accommodates effects of E proteins and mutual repression circuits of Gfi1 against Egr-2 and of TCF-1 against PU.1 as proposed elsewhere, but requires additional functions that remain unidentified. Distinctive features of this network structure include the intense dose dependence of GATA-3 effects, the genespecific modulation of PU.1 activity based on Notch activity, the lack of direct opposition between PU.1 and GATA-3, and the need for a distinct, late-acting repressive function or functions to extinguish stem and progenitor-derived regulatory gene expression.GATA-3 ͉ Notch ͉ PU.1 ͉ T cell development ͉ transcriptional regulation