CD8+ T cell response in the Act-mOVA/OT-I model of acute graft versus host disease

Lethally irradiated C57Bl/6 Act-mOVA mice receiving allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (aHSCT) from C57Bl/6 OT-I animals develop acute graft versus host disease (aGvHD) in a CD8+ T cell-dependent, reproducible manner, and succumb to the disease within 4-7 days. Tracking of UBC-GFP/OT-I graft CD8+ T cells discloses heavy infiltration of the GI tract, liver and lungs at the onset of the disease, and hallmark histologic features of acute gastrointestinal and hepatic GvHD, and aGVHD-associated lymphocytic bronchitis. This dataset describes gene expression patterns of CD45.1/OT-1 CD8+ T cells retrieved from the graft before (aHSCT + Day 0), and from various target organs of the host after (aHSCT + Day 4) grafting them into Act-mOVA recipients. Lethal acute graft versus host disease was induced in healthy 8-16 weeks old C57Bl/6 m-act OVA female mice by aHSCT. Recipient Act-mOVA mice received total body irradiation (11Gy, two split doses) and were transplanted with 3x10E+6 allogeneic bone marrow cells and 1,5x10E+7 splenocytes obtained from 8-16 weeks old C57Bl/6 OT-I mice serving as donors. Graft OT-I CD8+ T cells were obtained from CD45.1 animals, while all other graft cells and recipients carried the CD45.2 allele. For microarray experiments, on the day of transplantation, grafted naive CD45.1 CD8+ OT-I T cells were collected from the graft, serving as controls, by magnetic beads carrying CD45.1 specific antibodies. Four days after aHSCT, grafted CD45.1 CD8+ OT-I T cells were also recovered from the dissociated tissue samples of the livers, lungs and small intestines of Act-mOVA mice displaying acute GVHD by the same approach, and further analyzed by whole genome gene expression profiling.