Epigenetic regulation of Th cells

Following their first interaction with the antigen, naive T-helper (Th; CD4+) cells can differentiate into distinct lineages of effector or regulatory cells distinguished by a characteristic set of cytokines. These cytokines eventually instruct the strategy of the immune response. 

 Previous studies in our lab demonstrated that the epigenetic regulators, the polycomb group (PcG) proteins, which were known as transcriptional silencers, function unconventionally in differentiated Th cells also as transcriptional activators. The mechanisms underlying the dual function of the PcG proteins have not yet been fully understood. 

In our recent study we investigated how the epigenetic machinery harnesses the nuclear skeleton for establishment and maintenance of transcriptional programs that subsequently facilitate selective inducible gene expression in high levels as in differentiated effector Th cells, an essential process in molecular immunology (Titelbaum et al. 2021). This research focused on how specific proteins influence the formation of intranuclear structures, which are crucial in the reorganization of chromatin during cell differentiation.