Effect of Pou2af1 on activated T cell transcriptome

Pou2af1 encodes for OCA-B, a coactivator of OCT-1/2. Although primarily studied in B cells, Pou2af1 mRNA expression is induced in activated T cells and T cells from B6.129S-Pou2af1-/- mice, bearing a mixed genetic background, show impaired T cell functions, such as cytokine production and Tfh differentiation. To revisit the impact of Pou2af1 in T cells, we generated Pou2af1fl/fl mice with specific genetic disruption of Pou2af1 in hematopoietic cells, Vav-Cre, or T cells, CD4-Cre, on the B6 background. Surprisingly, T cell cytokine production was not impaired in these models, and Tfh differentiation was influenced by T cell extrinsic deletion of Pou2af1. To determine the role of Pou2af1 induction in T cells, we performed RNA-Seq on activated T cells from CD4-Cre-.Pou2af1fl/fl and CD4-Cre+.Pou2af1fl/fl mice. Apart from Pou2af1 mRNA expression, the transcriptomic profiles were remarkably comparable. Overall, this study provides strong evidence that Pou2af1 does not act as transcriptional coactivator in T cells. Overall design: 4 samples per cell type (CD4 and CD8 T cells) and genotype (WT, Het, KO) are analyzed. Pou2af1+/+ cell samples serve as control.