Gata3 ZsG-fl: a novel murine Gata3reporter allele revealed a unique expression profile of GATA3 controlled genes in ILC2 and Th2 under in vivocondition

Abstract

Abstract The transcription factor GATA3 expression is essential for T helper-2 (Th2) cells and type 2 innate lymphoid cells (ILC2s) mediated type 2 immune responses. However, most of the studies were done in in vitro system, and such functions cannot be easily verified in vivo because the expression of the markers for identifying Th2 and ILC2s depends on GATA3. We have generated a novel GATA3 reporter mice strain carrying Gata3 ZsG-flallele. This mouse carries a ZsGreen-T2A cassette at the translation initiation site along with exon 4 flanked by two loxP sites. Later, an inducible Gata3 deletion system was created by crossing Gata3 ZsG-flmice with a tamoxifen-inducible Cre (CreERT2) system. This reporter mice allowed us to visualize Gata3 deleted Th2 cells and ILC2s in vivo. Transcriptome comparison of Gata3 KO ILC2s and Th2 cells revealed common and distinct expression patterns of genes under the control of the GATA3 protein. Interestingly, this study also identified some GATA3-controlled genes specifically expressed under in vivo conditions but not in vitro. Therefore, transcriptome comparison of Gata3 KO ILC2s and Th2 cells in vivo provided valuable information to investigate the GATA3-controlled type 2 immune responses. This research was supported by the Intramural Research Programs of NIAID, NIH.