Ikzf1 lactylation regulates CD4 T cell differentiation

Dysregulation of Th17 differentiation was implicated in multiple inflammatory and autoimmune diseases including autoimmune uveitis. In the current study, we have provided evidence indicating that lactate-derived lactylation plays important roles in regulating Th17 differentiation. The lactylation level of CD4+ T cells was upregulated in EAU mice and inhibiting lactylation resulted in impaired EAU progression. We characterized the global lactylome of CD4+ T cells of normal and EAU mice. We found that the differentially lactylated proteins were enriched in pathways related to immune responses including leukocyte differentiation. Importantly, our results show that the lactylation level of Ikzf1 (K164) functions in regulating Th17 differentiation by differentially modulating gene expression patterns which are related to CD4+ T cell differentiation by CUT& Tag analysis. In view of the above mentioned well-documented evidence, Ikzf1 lactylation might represent an important regulator for Th17 differentiation in autoimmune uveitis. Overall design: Naïve CD4+ T cells knocked down for endogenous Ikzf1 were transfected with Ikzf1 WT or K164R virus and then used for Th17 induction. 5 days after induction, the cells were harvested for CUT&Tag analysis.