ABSTRACT
During the immune response, naïve T cells are activated to produce a multitude of lineages with distinct effector and memory functions. Effector T cells mediate an efficient adaptive immune response to primary antigen encounters, whereas long-lived memory T cells are responsible for the rapid response to subsequent antigen encounters. Distinct subsets of effector T cells, which are primarily characterized by their production of differential cytokines and suppressive molecules, play different roles in eliminating targets and mediating inflammatory responses. Furthermore, different subsets of memory T cells 204display distinctive features based on their tissue homing capacity, self-renewal capability, and effector recall responsiveness. Recent work has demonstrated the critical role of histone methylation and histone methyltransferases in regulating the generation of heterogeneous subsets of T cells in response to environmental cues. In this chapter, we provide a broad overview of global histone methylation in orchestrating the generation and maintenance of T cell subsets, as well as describe the functional importance of histone methyltransferases in regulating adaptive T cell immunity.
