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Updated: Jun 5, 2025

Measuring Mitochondrial Function of Naïve and Effector CD8 T Cells
Published on: March 28, 2025
Nutrient-driven histone code determines exhausted CD8+ T cell fates
Shixin Ma1, Michael S Dahabieh2, Thomas H Mann1
1NOMIS Center for Immunobiology and Microbial Pathogenesis, Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA.
Abstract:
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+ T cell differentiation, with implications for metabolic- and epigenetic-based T cell therapies.
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