Phosphorylation of Runx protein controls helper CD4+ T cell versus cytotoxic CD8+ T cell lineage choice

MHC-I- and MHC-II-selected CD4+CD8+ precursor thymocytes differentiate into cytotoxic CD8+ and helper CD4+ lineage T cells, during which suppression of Cd4 and Thpok genes by Runx-dependent-silencers in those genes is crucial to segregate the two lineages. However, how TCR signals are linked to cytotoxic-lineage-specific Cd4-Thpok silencing remains unclear. Here we show that the terminal Y residue within the evolutionarily conserved C-terminal WRPY motif in Runx1, which is essential for interacting with TLE co-repressor proteins, was phosphorylated more in CD4−CD8+ thymocytes than in CD4+CD8− thymocytes, inducing an interaction with TLE co-repressors for cytotoxic-lineage specific Cd4-Thpok silencing. Non-receptor tyrosine kinases Lck and Zap70 interacted with Runx in the cytoplasm more in MHC-I-signaled CD4−CD8+ thymocytes than in CD4+CD8− thymocytes. Collectively, these findings reveal that differential phosphorylation states at the terminal tyrosine residue in Runx connect MHC restriction with the helper versus cytotoxic T cell lineage choice. Taniuchi and colleagues show that differential phosphorylation of the terminal Y residue in Runx proteins connect MHC restriction with the helper versus cytotoxic T cell lineage choice.