custom illustration for professor golnaz vahedi, ph.d. of the university of pennsylvania (philadelphia, pa), 2018
published on the cover of the journal immunity
february 20 2018, volume 48 issue 2
accompanied the client’s research paper: lineage-determining transcription factor tcf-1 initiates the epigenetic identity of t cells
on the cover: the transcription factor tcf-1 is essential in t cell development. tt has been unclear, however, whether the mechanism by which tcf-1 controls t cell fate involves the specific transcriptional regulation of a small number of genes or whether this protein has a pervasive impact on the epigenomic regulation of t cells. tn this issue of immunity, johnson et al. (243–257) show that tcf-1 controls t cell fate through genome-wide programming of the epigenetic identity of t cells. tcf-1 binds to previously occupied nucleosomes, generating de novo chromatin accessibility even at condensed chromatin regions, and induces the expression of t cell genes. the cover image illustrates tcf-1 as an “ice breaker ship” sailing ahead, “de-icing” condensed genomic regions, and leaving behind “accessible” regulatory elements. illustration by dr. stacie bumgarner.