Transduction of Batf family members provide distinct functions to mouse CD8+ T cells.

BATF family members including BATF, BATF2, and BATF3 has critical roles in various types of immune cells. Several studies have indicated that their functions are redundant as they can compensate for each other’s functions. Here, we show that transduction of Batf family members confers distinct characteristics on CD8+ T cells. Batf- and Batf2-transduced CD8+ T cells exhibited effector and memory-like phenotypes, respectively. Intriguingly, Batf3-transduced CD8+ T cells showed effector- and memory-like phenotypes in response to effector- and memory-associated cytokines, respectively and superior anti-tumor activity in vivo among BATF family members. Our results demonstrated that each BATF family member has distinct functions in CD8+ T cells. These findings help us understand the roles of BATF family members in CD8+ T cells and contribute to the development of optimized adoptive T cell therapies against cancer.