News Finding: They found that adding permeable alpha-ketoglutarate to the low interleukin 2 condition induced about a third of the gene program induced by high interleukin 2 relative to low interleukin 2 in T cells, while it inhibited about 10 percent of the genes that were more highly expressed in low interleukin 2 relative to high interleukin 2 conditions.
Paper Finding: Additionally, nearly 80% of the genes that were aKG-sensitive were also IL-2-sensitive (Figures 2A and 2B ).
News Context: These different concentrations of interleukin 2 signaling drive the cells to turn on different gene programs and develop gene programs similar to those from either effector or memory T cells. They found that adding permeable alpha-ketoglutarate to the low interleukin 2 condition induced about a third of the gene program induced by high interleukin 2 relative to low interleukin 2 in T cells, while it inhibited about 10 percent of the genes that were more highly expressed in low interleukin 2 relative to high interleukin 2 conditions. Alpha-ketoglutarate thus appears to be responsible for part, but not all, of interleukin 2's impact on T cell gene programming.
Paper Context: These data suggest that aKG-sensitive events play a role in both the induction and inhibition of the IL-2-sensitive gene program in CD4 + Th1 and CD8 + Tc1 cells, with aKG-sensitive activities having a greater role in promoting IL-2-inducible events. Additionally, nearly 80% of the genes that were aKG-sensitive were also IL-2-sensitive (Figures 2A and 2B ). This suggests that a substantial portion of the aKG-sensitive program in CD4 + Th1 and CD8 + Tc1 cells relates to the IL-2-sensitive program.