RNAseq of CD8 T-cells stimulated with CXCR3 chemokines

G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) interact with many transducers like G proteins and β-arrestins. Some GPCR agonists act as “biased agonists” which preferentially activate specific signaling transducers over others, leading to unique signaling profiles. The chemokine system, a subfamily of GPCRs that plays a critical role in inflammatory diseases, serves as an endogenous example of biased agonism where over 50 different chemokines ligands and 20 receptors interact promiscuously. In this study, we sought to determine the three different chemokines of the chemkoine receptor CXCR3 generate different transcriptional responses in primary CD8+ T cells. Using RNAseq on CD8+ T cells stimulated with either vehicle control, CXCL9, CXCL10, or CXCL11, the endogenous chemokines of CXCR3, we found that the CXCR3 chemokines promoted unique transcriptional responses that are predicted to differentially regulate inflammatory pathways. We observed significant changes in global transcriptional activation, detecting approximately 48000 transcripts, 887 of which varied by chemokine treatment. There was a high degree of replicability between biological replicates. The overwhelming majority of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) increased in transcript level following chemokine treatment. Compared to vehicle control, CXCL11 demonstrated the largest number of DEGs. Importantly, CXCL11 and CXCL10 demonstrate unique transcriptional profiles where the majority of DEGs were only found following treatment with each specific chemokine, rather than being shared across chemokines. These data contrast with that observed at CXCL9 – although it promoted a significant amount of transcriptional regulation, approximately 66% of CXCL9-induced DEGs were shared with CXCL11 and/or CXCL10. RNAseq on CD8+ T Cells stimulated with vehicle control, CXCL9, CXCL10 or CXCL11 for 2 hours