Single-cell RNA-sequencing measurements of in vitro activated and differentiated CD8+ T cells cultured in physiological media

Cytotoxic (CD8+) T cells dynamically rewire their metabolism during the course of an immune response. While T-cell metabolism has been extensively studied at phenotypic endpoints of activation and differentiation, the underlying dynamics remain largely elusive. To resolve these metabolic dynamics, we performed single-cell RNA-sequencing (scRNA-seq) measurements on in vitro activated and differentiated CD8+ T cells cultured in physiological media. Naïve CD8+ T cells were either (a) activated in vitro for 24h (Activated sample), or (b) activated in vitro for 54h and further differentiated in vitro for an extra 144h under either (b.1) IL-2 (Effector-polarized sample) or (b.2) IL-15 (Memory-polarized sample). CD8+ T-cell samples collected for each of the above three conditions/time points were analyzed by scRNA-seq.