Expression data from purified mouse CD4+ T cells

T cells are the main responding arm of the immune system to allografts. One mechanism that may be encouraging tolerance to allografts is T regulatory cells, a CD4+ T cell phenotype that displays antigen-directed immune suppression. T regulatory cells are reduced after allografting in the graft draining lymph node compared to the syngeneic graft draining lymph node, and miRNAs may be responsible for this decrease in suppressive cells. We used microarrays to detail what miRNAs are dysregulated after allografting in purified CD4+ T cells to identify what miRNAs are hindering the expansion of pro-tolerogenic T regulatory cells. Female C57BL/6 mice were given either tail-skin syngeneic grafts (C57BL/6 --> C57BL/6) or allogenic grafts (C3H --> C57BL/6) on the dorsal lateral surface of the recipient mouse. Allograft directed inflammation or syngeneic graft acceptance proceeded for 10 days. Mice were sacrificed and their draining lymph nodes (axillary and brachial) were harvested. CD4+ T cells were purified from single cell suspensions of this population via magnetic bead isolation. Purity was verified to be > 90% CD4+ by flow cytometry before the purified cells were subjected to total RNA extraction before hybridization on Affymetrix arrays. Naive CD4+ T cells from axillary and brachial lymph nodes were extracted and purified as well for a non-surgery control. Thus, samples were from three groups: Naive CD4+ T cells (N4), allograft-responding CD4+ cells (Al4) or syngeneic graft-responding CD4+ cells (Au4).