It has recently emerged that innate lymphocytes are more diverse than previously appreciated. In addition to natural killer cells, various subsets of innate lymphoid cells are now being characterized. It has become apparent that the transcriptional programs underlying lineage specification and cell fate decisions of innate lymphocytes strikingly resemble those of T cell subsets, suggesting that such transcriptional circuitry was already pre-formed in the evolutionary older innate immune system. Here, we will review recent advances in our understanding of the core transcriptional programs driving development and cell fate decisions of innate lymphocytes. We will also discuss whether these transcriptional programs are stable or flexible, thereby allowing for plastic adaptation of immune responses.
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