Innate lymphoid cells (ILCs) patrol environmental interfaces to defend against infection and protect barrier integrity. Using a genetic tuning model, we demonstrate that the signal-dependent transcription factor STAT5 is critical for accumulation of all known ILC subsets in mice, and reveal a hierarchy of STAT5 dependency for populating lymphoid and non-lymphoid tissues. We also apply transcriptome and genomic distribution analyses to define a STAT5 gene signature in NK cells, the prototypical ILC subset, and provide a systems-based molecular rationale for its key functions downstream of IL-15. Additionally, we uncover surprising features of STAT5 behavior, most notably, the wholesale re-distribution that occurs when NK cells shift from tonic signaling to acute cytokine-driven signaling, and its genome-wide coordination with T-bet, another key transcription factor in ILC biology. Collectively, our data position STAT5 as a central node in the transcription factor network that instructs ILC development, homeostasis and function, and provide mechanistic insights on how it works at cellular and molecular levels. SOURCE: Yuka Kanno (kannoy@mail.nih.gov) - LCBS-MIIB NIH

Pluto Bioinformatics

GSE100674: Subset- and tissue-defined STAT5 thresholds control homeostasis and function of innate lymphoid cells