Impact of KLF2 expression on T cell genetic program

On triggering of the T cell receptor CD8 T lymphocytes downregulate expression of the transcription factor KLF2. KLF2 expression remains low as these cells differentiate to Cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) but may be re-expressed depending on the local environmental signals. We used retroviral transduction to enforce KLF2 expression in CTL to determine the impact of it re-expression on the CTL genetic program. T lymphocytes with a transgenic T cell receptor (P14 LCMV) isolated from murine spleens were activated with gp33-41 peptide for 2 days and transduced with empty vector (evGFP) or GFP-KLF2. After differentiation to CTL in culture with Interleukin-2 for 2 further days, cells positive for GFP were isolated by Fluorescence Activated Cell Sorting and the RNA extracted for microarray analysis.