Cited by 537T-cell and B-cell ImmunologyNuclear Receptors and SignalingCancer Immunotherapy and Biomarkers

Genome-wide analysis identifies NR4A1 as a key mediator of T cell dysfunction

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Liu, Xindong, Wang, Yun, Lu, Huiping, Li, Jing, Yan, Xiaowei, Xiao, Minglu, Hao, Jing, Alekseev, Andrei +21 more·2019·Nature

Abstract

T cells become dysfunctional when they encounter self antigens or are exposed to chronic infection or to the tumour microenvironment 1. The function of T cells is tightly regulated by a combinational co-stimulatory signal, and dominance of negative co-stimulation results in T cell dysfunction 2. However, the molecular mechanisms that underlie this dysfunction remain unclear. Here, using an in vitro T cell tolerance induction system in mice, we characterize genome-wide epigenetic and gene expression features in tolerant T cells, and show that they are distinct from effector and regulatory T cells. Notably, the transcription factor NR4A1 is stably expressed at high levels in tolerant T cells. Overexpression of NR4A1 inhibits effector T cell differentiation, whereas deletion of NR4A1 overcomes T cell tolerance and exaggerates effector function, as well as enhancing immunity against tumour and chronic virus. Mechanistically, NR4A1 is preferentially recruited to binding sites of the transcription factor AP-1, where it represses effector-gene expression by inhibiting AP-1 function. NR4A1 binding also promotes acetylation of histone 3 at lysine 27 (H3K27ac), leading to activation of tolerance-related genes. This study thus identifies NR4A1 as a key general regulator in the induction of T cell dysfunction, and a potential target for tumour immunotherapy.

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  • Nr4a2 is highly related to Nr4a1 and has been found to promote T cell exhaustion.

    “Because Nr4a2 is highly related to Nr4a1 and has been found to promote T cell exhaustion (33-35),”

    From Bile acid synthesis impedes tumor-specific T cell responses during liver cancer (2025) · cites this paper as [35]

    The passages labeled Abstract (page unavailable) link NR4A1 to T-cell dysfunction and exhaustion, but do not address NR4A2 or its relationship to NR4A1. Searches for Nr4a2 and Nurr1 found no passage in our copy saying that NR4A2 promotes T-cell exhaustion. (LLM, conf=0.75)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • NFAT-induced transcription factors, including NR4A and TOX, drive T cell exhaustion/dysfunction.

    “NFAT-induced transcription factors, including NR4A and TOX, drive T cell exhaustion/dysfunction44–47.”

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Authors
Liu, X., Wang, Y., Lu, H., Li, J., Yan, X., Xiao, M., Hao, J., Alekseev, A., Khong, H., Chen, T., Huang, R., Wu, J., Zhao, Q., Wu, Q., Xu, S., Wang, X., Jin, W., Yu, S., Wang, Y., Wei, L., Wang, A., Zhong, B., Ni, L., Liu, X., Nurieva, R., Ye, L., Tian, Q., Bian, X.-W., & Dong, C.
Affiliations
  • Army Medical University (CN)
  • Institute for Systems Biology (US)
  • Tsinghua University (CN)
  • The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center (US)
  • Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center, Sun Yat-sen University (CN)
  • Wuhan University (CN)
Corresponding author
  • Liu, Xindong
  • Liu, Xiaolong
  • Bian, Xiu-Wu
  • Dong, Chen
Venue
Nature
Published
2019-02-27
Volume
567
Issue
7749
Pages
525-529
ISSN
  • 0028-0836 (ISSN-L)
  • 1476-4687
OpenAlex
W2916738215
Cited by
533
References
30
Citations by year
2026: 70 · 2025: 98 · 2024: 81 · 2023: 76 · 2022: 58 · 2021: 63 · 2020: 60 · 2019: 26
FWCI
20.68
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Nature (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (R01HL143520)
  • National Cancer Institute (R03CA219760, P30CA016672)
  • National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (R56AI125269, R21AI120012)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Immunology and Microbiology › Immunology › T-cell and B-cell Immunology
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Nuclear Receptors and Signaling
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Oncology › Cancer Immunotherapy and Biomarkers
Keywords
Nur77, T cell tolerance, T cell dysfunction, AP-1, H3K27 acetylation, histone acetylation, transcriptional repression, effector T cell differentiation, regulatory T cells, cancer immunotherapy, chronic viral infection, tumour immunity, epigenetic regulation
MeSH terms
Acetylation, Animals, Arenaviridae Infections, Colitis, Female, Gene Expression Regulation, Histones, Immune Tolerance, Immunotherapy, Lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus, Mice, Inbred C57BL, Neoplasms, T-Lymphocytes, Transcription, Genetic, Genome, Transcription Factor AP-1, Epigenesis, Genetic, Cell Line, Tumor, Mice, Nuclear Receptor Subfamily 4, Group A, Member 1

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