The histone modification landscape of neonatal CD4+ T cells contributes to decreased T cell receptor signaling

Chromatin immunoprecipitation with massively parallel DNA sequencing (ChIP-seq) was performed to establish the H3K4me3 landscape in neonatal and adult naive CD4+ T cells. As development progressed from neonate to adult, naive CD4+ T cells gained the activating mark H3K4me3 at immunologically important promoter sites. Adult naive CD4+ T cells had enrichment of H3K4me3 at genes important in T cell receptor signaling, which was associated with improved markers of activation and cytokine expression in adult naive CD4+ T cells after engagement of the T cell receptor. Examination of H3K4me3 in naïve CD4+ T cells in 7 experimental groups, each in triplicate: under 30 weeks gestation preterm healthy neonate, under 30 weeks gestation preterm chorioamnionitis-exposed neonate, 30-36 weeks gestation preterm healthy neonate, 30-36 weeks gestation preterm chorioamnionitis-exposed neonate, over 37 weeks gestation term healthy neonate, over 37 weeks gestation term chorioamnionitis-exposed neonate, healthy adult