Enforced expression of Spi-B reverses T lineage commitment and blocks β-selection

The molecular changes that restrict multipotent murine thymocytes to the T cell lineage and render them responsive to Ag receptor signals remain poorly understood. In this study, we report our analysis of the role of the Ets transcription factor, Spi-B, in this process. Spi-B expression is acutely induced coincident with T cell lineage commitment at the CD4^-CD8 ^-CD44^-CD25⁺ (DN3) stage of thymocyte development and is then down-regulated as thymocytes respond to pre-TCR signals and develop beyond the β-selection checkpoint to the CD4 ^-CD8^-CD44^-CD25^- (DN4) stage. We found that dysregulation of Spi-B expression in DN3 thymocytes resulted in a dose-dependent perturbation of thymocyte development. Indeed, DN3 thymocytes expressing approximately five times the endogenous level of Spi-B were arrested at the β-selection checkpoint, due to impaired induction of Egr proteins, which are important molecular effectors of the β-selection checkpoint. T lineage-committed DN3 thymocytes expressing even higher levels of Spi-B were diverted to the dendritic cell lineage. Thus, we demonstrate that the prescribed modulation of Spi-B expression is important for T lineage commitment and differentiation beyond the β-selection checkpoint; and we provide insight into the mechanism underlying perturbation of development when that expression pattern is disrupted.