Notch2 complements Notch1 to mediate inductive signaling that initiates early T cell development.

Notch signaling is the dominant intercellular signaling input during the earliest stages of T cell development in the thymus. Although Notch1 is known to be indispensable, we show that it does not mediate all Notch signaling in precommitment stages: Notch2 initially works in parallel to promote early murine T cell development and antagonize other fates. Notch-regulated target genes before and after T lineage commitment change dynamically, and we show that this partially reflects shifts in genome-wide DNA binding by RBPJ, the transcription factor activated by complex formation with the Notch intracellular domain. Although Notch signaling and transcription factor PU.1 can activate some common targets in precommitment T progenitors, Notch signaling and PU.1 activity have functionally antagonistic effects on multiple targets, delineating separation of pro-T cells from alternative PU.1-dependent fates. These results define a distinct mechanism of Notch signal response that distinguishes the initial stages of murine T cell development.