Anti-cancer immunotherapies commonly rely on the use of interleukin-2 (IL-2) to promote the expansion of T lymphocytes. IL-2-dependent proliferation is the culmination of a complex network of phosphorylation-driven signaling events that impact on gene transcription through mechanisms that are not clearly understood. To study the role of IL-2 in the regulation of nuclear protein function we have performed an unbiased mass spectrometry-based study of the nuclear phosphoproteome of resting and IL-2-treated CD4 ؉ T lymphocytes. We detected 8521distinct phosphosites including many that are not yet reported in curated phosphorylation databases. Although most phosphorylation sites remained unaffected upon IL-2 treatment, 391 sites corresponding to 288 gene products showed robust IL-2-dependent regulation. Importantly, we show that ATP-citrate lyase (ACLY) is a key phosphoprotein effector of IL-2-mediated T-cell responses. ACLY becomes phosphorylated on serine 455 in T lymphocytes upon IL-2-driven activation of AKT, and depletion or inactivation of ACLY compromises IL-2-promoted T-cell growth. Mechanistically, we demonstrate that ACLY is required for enhancing histone acetylation levels and inducing the expression of cell cycle regulating genes in response to IL-2. Thus, the metabolic enzyme ACLY emerges as a bridge between cytokine signaling and proliferation of T lymphocytes, and may be an attractive candidate target for the development of more efficient anti-cancer The underlying principle of cancer immunotherapy is to eliminate malignant cells by tuning the immune system (1-2). This revolutionary way of fighting tumors was originated three decades ago when a patient suffering from metastatic melanoma was treated with the T-cell growth promoting factor interleukin-2 (IL-2) 1 (3). The success of IL-2 administration in fighting metastatic melanoma demonstrated for the first time that solely potentiating the activation of T lymphocytes could abrogate certain human cancers (4). Current immunotherapy approaches include the use of autologous gene-engineered T cells that, once expanded ex vivo with IL-2, are re-infused back into patients by the so-called adoptive cell transfer therapy (ACT) (5-7). Despite the promising results of this approach, a safe and long-lasting expansion of transferred T cells remains a major challenge because of the undesirable side effects derived from the use of IL-2. Continued exposure to high doses of IL-2 results in increased susceptibility of T cells to apoptosis (8). Moreover, IL-2 is also a critical component for regulatory T-cell (T reg ) development and function (9 -10), and as such it functions as a negative regulator of the immune response (11). Consequently, although IL-2 constitutes a key component of current immunotherapies, a great deal of effort is being devoted to the development of novel strategies that would boost the T-cell immune response more safely. In this regard, it has been shown that IL-2-related toxicity can be partially minimized by the use of gene-engineered T cells ex...