Early hematopoietic progenitors undergo sophisticated developmental processes to become committed innate lymphoid cell (ILC) progenitors and ultimately mature ILC subsets in the periphery. Basic leucine zipper ATF-like transcription factor (Batf) plays important roles in lymphocyte biology. We report here that Batf regulates the production of bone marrow ILC progenitors and maintenance of peripheral ILCs. The expression of Batf is induced during ILC development at the α-lymphoid progenitor stage in response to the cytokine IL-7. As a potential mechanism, up-regulated Batf binds and activates transcription of the Nfil3 gene to promote ILC hematopoiesis. Batf is necessary to maintain normal numbers of early and late ILC progenitors in the bone marrow and mature ILC1, ILC2, ILC3, and NK cells in most peripheral tissues. Batf deficiency causes ILC lymphopenia, leading to defective ILC responses to inflammatory cytokines and defective immunity to enteric bacterial infections. Thus, Batf plays critical roles in bone marrow hematopoiesis, peripheral homeostasis, and effector functions of ILCs.

早期造血祖细胞经历复杂的发育过程，成为定型先天淋巴细胞 (ILC) 祖细胞，并最终在外周成熟 ILC 亚群。碱性亮氨酸拉链 ATF 样转录因子 (Batf) 在淋巴细胞生物学中发挥重要作用。我们在此报道 Batf 调节骨髓 ILC 祖细胞的产生和外周 ILC 的维持。 Batf 的表达在 ILC 发育过程中的 α 淋巴祖细胞阶段被诱导，以响应细胞因子 IL-7。作为一种潜在机制，上调的 Batf 结合并激活Nfil3基因的转录，以促进 ILC 造血。 Batf 对于维持骨髓中早期和晚期 ILC 祖细胞以及大多数外周组织中成熟 ILC1、ILC2、ILC3 和 NK 细胞的正常数量是必需的。 Batf缺乏会导致 ILC 淋巴细胞减少，导致 ILC 对炎性细胞因子的反应缺陷以及对肠道细菌感染的免疫力缺陷。因此，Batf 在骨髓造血、外周稳态和 ILC 效应功能中发挥着关键作用。