Gene expression profiling of CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ regulatory T cells and CD4+CD25-Foxp3- T cells in the course of Plasmodium yoelii infection of BALB/c mice. Mus musculus

The objective of the present study was to characterize the phenotype of CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ regulatory T cells (Tregs) in the course of parasitic Plasmodium yoelii (P .yoelii) infection of BALB/c mice. Therefore we performed microarray expression analysis of CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ Tregs isolated by FACS from spleens of non-infected mice and from spleens of mice infected with P. yoelii 3 days and 5 days post infection. By comparing the gene expression profiles, we were able to identify molecules which were differentially expressed by Tregs during parasitic infection and thereby might be involved in their immune-suppressive function. Moreover, we included CD4+CD25-Foxp3- T cells from spleens of non-infected and P. yoelii-infected mice in our analysis. It was proposed that immune-suppressive CD4+CD25-Foxp3- T cells might be induced during Plasmodium infection of mice. Thus, detailed gene expression data of these cells in comparison to CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ Tregs would contribute a better understanding in the phenotype. Overall design: FACS sorted CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ Tregs and CD4+CD25-Foxp3- T cells from pooled spleens of non-infected Foxp3/ eGFP mice (served as reference) and from pooled spleens of P. yoelii infected Foxp3/ eGFP mice 3 days and 5 days post infection were analyzed as single probes.