The long noncoding RNA regulates CD8 T cells in response to viral infection.

Citation:
Kotzin, J. J., F. Iseka, J. Wright, M. G. Basavappa, M. L. Clark, M. - A. Ali, M. S. Abdel-Hakeem, T. F. Robertson, W. K. Mowel, L. Joannas, et al., "The long noncoding RNA regulates CD8 T cells in response to viral infection.", Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, vol. 116, issue 24, pp. 11916-11925, 2019.

Abstract:

The transcriptional programs that regulate CD8 T-cell differentiation and function in the context of viral infections or tumor immune surveillance have been extensively studied; yet how long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) and the loci that transcribe them contribute to the regulation of CD8 T cells during viral infections remains largely unexplored. Here, we report that transcription of the lncRNA is specifically induced by T-cell receptor (TCR) and type I IFN stimulation during the early stages of acute and chronic lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV) infection. In response to type I IFN, the RNA and its locus control CD8 T cell expansion, survival, and effector function by regulating the expression of the proapoptotic factor, , and by modulating the strength of the PI3K-AKT signaling pathway. Thus, our results demonstrate that inflammatory cue-responsive lncRNA loci represent fundamental mechanisms by which CD8 T cells are regulated in response to pathogens and potentially cancer.