Effect of BCL11B overexpression on transcriptome of T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) cells

To investigate the effects of BCL11B on T-cell differentiation, we performed gain of function studies in cells with a T-lineage differentiation arrest, namely T-ALL cells. Gene expression profiling by RNA-Seq demonstrated that BCL11B overexpression induced transcriptional changes consistent with T-cell differentiation as early as 72 hours after transduction, indicating a rapid regulatory effect of BCL11B on the T-lineage transcriptional program and supporting an important role for BCL11B in human T-cell differentiation. T-ALL cells were transduced with a BCL11B-GFP expression vector (overexpressing cells) or an empty GFP vector (control cells). GFP+ cells were isolated by fluorescence activation cell sorting (FACS) at 72 hours post transduction and analyzed by RNA-Seq to determine the effect of BCL11B on the transcriptome of T-ALL cells.