Fig. 1: TNIK is dispensable for effector T-cell response.

a, b Naive (T_N) or activated AdTf p14 T cells isolated from the spleen 6 or 40 days p.i. with 10⁴ pfu LCMV-WE were FACS-sorted, stained for TNIK and β-catenin, and analyzed by ImageStream X (day 6 p.i.: T_EFF, day 40 p.i.: T_CM, T_EM). Single-cell images: nuclear (DAPI) stain, nuclear (Nucl.) vs cytoplasmatic (Cyto.) distribution of TNIK or β-catenin, and overlay (merge). Dotplots: Mean TNIK or β-catenin intensity of T_N (n = 8638), T_EFF (n = 1252), T_CM (n = 630)_, T_EM (n = 1308) and % nuclear localization of n = 2–3 sample replicates per cell subset. Scale bar 10 μm. c Tamoxifen-induced systemic deletion: Tnik^F/F;Ubc-Cre(Tnik^Δ/Δ) and control-treated Tnik^WT/WT;Ubc-Cre (Tnik^WT) mice were infected i.v. with 200 pfu LCMV-WE. d–j Day 8 p.i.: d frequency of gp33-Tet⁺ cells per CD8⁺ T cells in blood, e CD8⁺ T-cell numbers in the spleen and frequency of gp33-Tet⁺ cells per CD8⁺ T cells in the spleen, f effector phenotype (T_EFF, CD44⁺CD62L⁻) of gp33-Tet⁺ CD8⁺ T cells, g frequency of Tcf1 exrepssing T_EFF cells, h histogram and ΔMFI of granzyme B expression in gp33-Tet⁺ CD8⁺ T cell, i lysis of gp33 peptide pulsed MC57 target cells by Tnik^WT and Tnik^Δ/Δ CD8⁺ T cells at different effector/target ratios (E:T), j frequency of memory precursor effector cells (MPECs; CD127⁺KLRG1⁻) and short-lived effector cells (SLECs; CD127⁻KLRG1⁺) within gp33-Tet⁺ CD8⁺ T cells, k histograms and ΔMFI of intracellular Eomes/T-bet staining in gp33-Tet⁺ CD8⁺ T cells. Depicted: Tnik^WT (black lines/circles), Tnik^Δ/Δ (red lines/circles), isotype controls (iso; dashed lines). d–f, h–k Data are representative for one out of two (n = 5) independent experiments. Data are displayed as means ± SEM. Statistics: two-tailed Student's t test, nonsignificant P > 0.05, *P < 0.05, ***P < 0.001, ****P < 0.0001. Also see Supplementary Figs. 1 and 2. Source data are provided as a Source Data file.