Ectopic Tcf1 expression reprograms exhausted CD8+ T cells to acquire stem cell-like features [RNA-seq]

The goal of this study is to determine the capacity of Tcf1 to reprogram exhausted CD8+ T cells for function restoration. Tex cells elicited by chronic infection contain a CXCR5+Tim3– subset that has stem cell-like self-renewing capacity and expresses an elevated level of Tcf1 (termed Tex-stem), and Tex-stem cells depend on Tcf1 for generation and persistence. We show that ectopic Tcf1 expression profoundly affected the transcriptome of Tex cells. Overall design: Genome-wide expression profiles of stem cell-like exhauseted CD8+ T cells with or without ectopic Tcf1 expression.