Gene expression profiles of CD4SP Foxp3GFP-CD25+ Treg precursors and Foxp3GFP-CD25- thymocytes. Mus musculus

We investigated at which stage of maturation commitment to a stable Foxp3-expressing phenotype takes place. We assessed stability of Foxp3 expression in thymic Foxp3+ Treg subsets of different maturity, defined by CD24 expression. Next we compared gene expression profiles of Foxp3+ Treg subsets (+) of different maturity (24lo, 24int, 24hi) and could identify a set of genes that were specifically up or downregulated in Foxp3+ Tregs, but not in Foxp3- conventional T cells, in a maturation-dependent manner. Overall design: Gene expression of Foxp3+ Treg subsets (+) of different maturity (24lo, 24int, 24hi) compared to their Foxp3- conventional Tcell subsets (-) counterpart.