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Updated: Jul 2, 2026

Efficient Differentiation of Pluripotent Stem Cells to NKX6-1+ Pancreatic Progenitors
Published on: March 7, 2017
The transcription factor PLZF directs the effector program of the NKT cell lineage
Adam K Savage1, Michael G Constantinides, Jin Han
1Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Committee on Immunology, Department of Pathology, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA.
Abstract:
The transcriptional control of CD1d-restricted NKT cell development has remained elusive. We report that PLZF (promyelocytic leukemia zinc finger, Zbtb16), a member of the BTB/POZ-ZF family of transcription factors that includes the CD4-lineage-specific c-Krox (Th-POK), is exquisitely specific to CD1d-restricted NKT cells and human MR1-specific MAIT cells. PLZF was induced immediately after positive selection of NKT cell precursors, and PLZF-deficient NKT cells failed to undergo the intrathymic expansion and effector differentiation that characterize their lineage. Instead, they preserved a naive phenotype and were directed to lymph nodes. Conversely, transgenic expression of PLZF induced CD4(+) thymocytes to acquire effector differentiation and migrate to nonlymphoid tissues. We suggest that PLZF is a transcriptional signature of NKT cells that directs their innate-like effector differentiation during thymic development.
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