Fezf2 regulates differentiation of Aire-expressing and post-Aire mimetic epithelial populations maintaining thymic homeostasis
Fezf2 has been proposed to serve principally as a transcriptional regulator of broad self-antigen expression in medullary thymic epithelial cells (mTECs). Here, we demonstrate an additional function for Fezf2 as a developmental regulator of TEC lineage commitment. Fezf2 deficiency in the thymus led to a relative expansion of lung mimetic and Ccl21+ immature mTECs at the expense of MHCII-hi Aire-expressing and all other mimetic populations. Consistent with this, the disruption of mTEC development had functional consequences, including alterations in tuft-associated iNKT polarization and microfold-associated B-cell class switching. In addition, high-resolution transcriptomics revealed that Fezf2 and Aire regulate distinct transcriptional programs, with Fezf2 driving both activation and repression of a more limited set of tissue-restricted genes compared to the broad gene activation program observed for Aire. Pure transcriptional repression at Fezf2 target loci was sufficient to partially rescue mTEC development in global Fezf2-/- (tKO) mice, potentially through suppression of Lifr expression and modulation of downstream Stat3 signaling tone. These results expand our understanding of Fezf2 in mTEC biology, highlighting transcriptional repression as a required functional facet for adult steady-state lineage patterning across the mTEC compartment.