Description
The purpose of the study was to determine what genes in DN2 pro-T cells are immediately regulated by the transcription factor GATA-3, either as activation targets or as repression targets. To do this, two pairs of Gata3-floxed and control pro-T cells were generated and analyzed by RNA-seq within the first day of deletion of the Gata3 gene. Pro-T cells were generated by differentiation in vitro on OP9-DL1 monolayers of fetal liver-derive precursors from wildtype or Gata3-floxed mice, and the Gata3 gene was acutely deleted by transduction with Cre retroviral vector. Within 20 hr after transduction, samples of acutely Gata3-deleted and control DN2 cells were sorted and RNA prepared for RNA-seq analysis. High-throughput sequencing of the samples was carried out. Experimental Gata3 deleted samples in both cases were Gata3-floxed, ROSA26R-EYFP samples infected with Cre retrovirus and sorted for EYFP+ (Cre-activated) DN2 phenotype. Control for experiment 1: wildtype (C57BL/6) DN2 pro-T cells generated in parallel, also treated with Cre retrovirus but sorted only for DN2 phenotype. Control for experiment 2: same genotype as experimental, but infected with a GFP+ empty retroviral vector and sorted for GFP+ DN2 phenotype. Overall design: Two pairs of RNA-seq samples of DN2 pro-T cells were generated for comparison, each pair consisting of a Gata3-deleted sample plus a stage-matched control.