The basic leucine zipper transcription factor NFIL3 directs the development of a common innate lymphoid cell precursor

Innate lymphoid cells (ILCs) are recently identified lymphocytes that limit infection and promote tissue repair at mucosal surfaces. However, the pathways underlying ILC development remain unclear. Here we show that the transcription factor NFIL3 directs the development of a committed bone marrow precursor that differentiates into all known ILC lineages. NFIL3 was required in the common lymphoid progenitor (CLP), and was essential for the differentiation of CLP, a bone marrow cell population that gives rise to all known ILC lineages. Clonal differentiation studies revealed that CXCR6+ cells within the CLP population differentiate into all ILC lineages but not T- and B-cells. We further show that NFIL3 governs ILC development by directly regulating expression of the transcription factor TOX. These findings establish that NFIL3 directs the differentiation of a committed ILC precursor that gives rise to all ILC lineages and provide insight into the defining role of NFIL3 in ILC development. This experiment is to compare gene expression profiles between wild-type and Nfil3-/- common lymphoid progenitor (CLP) cells to identify genes regulated by NFIL3. There are 6 samples in this experiment, including 3 biological replicates for wild-type CLPs and 3 biological replicates for Nfil3-/- CLPs. All mice used are on the C57BL/6 background.