Nutrient-driven histone code determines exhausted CD8 <sup>+</sup> T cell fates
Exhausted T cells (TEX) in cancer and chronic viral infections undergo metabolic and epigenetic remodeling, impairing their protective capabilities. However, the impact of nutrient metabolism on epigenetic modifications that control TEX differentiation remains unclear. We showed that TEX cells shifted from acetate to citrate metabolism by down-regulating acetyl-CoA synthetase 2 (ACSS2) while maintaining ATP-citrate lyase (ACLY) activity. This metabolic switch increased citrate-dependent histone acetylation, mediated by histone acetyltransferase KAT2A-ACLY interactions, at TEX signature genes while reducing acetate-dependent histone acetylation, dependent on p300-ACSS2 complexes, at effector and memory T cell genes. Nuclear ACSS2 overexpression or ACLY inhibition prevented TEX differentiation and enhanced tumor-specific T cell responses. These findings unveiled a nutrient-instructed histone code governing CD8<sup>+</sup> T cell differentiation, with implications for metabolic- and epigenetic-based T cell therapies.
Authors
- Filipe Araujo Hoffmann
- Won‐Suk Song (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1590-5649)
- Cholsoon Jang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6651-4213)
- Bryan McDonald (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1744-3433)
- Brandon M. Oswald (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4147-2915)
- Lisa M. DeCamp (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4682-7586)
- Yagmur Farsakoglu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2503-906X)
- Longwei Liu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4229-9066)
- Dan Chen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5156-6635)
- Ryan D. Sheldon (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1573-9719)
- Russell G. Jones (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2250-4675)
- H. Kay Chung (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7028-2432)
- Victor Y. Du (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2759-0114)
- Thomas H. Mann (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3821-1466)
- Abigail E. Ellis (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8736-8283)
- Yingxiao Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0265-326X)
- Steven Zhao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8102-8368)
- Michael S. Dahabieh
- Susan M. Kaech (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1674-1420)
- Shixin Ma
- Lizmarie Garcia-Rivera (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6837-0134)
- Jesse Furgiuele
- Shihao Xu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7597-7567)
- Michael A. LaPorta (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0001-0461-5614)
- Emily Jacobs
- Peixiang He
Institutions
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (US)
- University of Southern California (US)
- Salk Institute for Biological Studies (US)
- Van Andel Institute (US)
- University of California, Irvine (US)
- University of California San Diego (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Science
- Published
- 2024-12-12
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adj3020
- Citations
- 61
- Primary Topic
- Immune Cell Function and Interaction
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 14.67