CD4+ T cell gene expression in B6 vs B6.Sle1c2 mice

Sle1c is a sublocus of the NZM2410-derived Sle1 major susceptibility locus. We have previously shown that Sle1c contributes to lupus pathogenesis by conferring CD4+ T cell-intrinsic hyperactivation and increased susceptibility to chronic graft-versus-host disease (cGVHD) that mapped to the centromeric portion of the locus. In this study, we have refined the centromeric sublocus to a 675Kb interval, termed Sle1c2. Recombinant congenic strains expressing Sle1c2 exhibited a T cell-intrinsic CD4+ T cell hyperactivation and cGVHD susceptibility, similar to mice with the parental Sle1c. We performed a microarray analysis on CD4+ T cells to gain insights into the transcriptional programs that regulate the hyperactivation conferred by Sle1c2. CD4+ T cell cDNA was prepared from spenocytes from 5 mice from each strain and B6.Sle1c2 gene expression was compared to B6 gene expresion.