Gene array analysis of human adult skin and spleen antigen presenting cells.. Homo sapiens

Antigen presenting cells (APC) are a heterogenous population, comprised of macrophages/monocytes (CD14+ cells), classical dendritic cells (CD141+DC and CD1c+ DC) and pDC. Upon stimulation, APC migrate from peripheral organs to lymph nodes, where they drive T cell specific lineage fate, that is towards immune activation or suppression. APC in human tissues remain poorly defined. Through our previous published data we have charactised APC within adult skin and blood. Here we extend these findings, by increasing the sample for skin CD14+ DC and CD1c+ DC and performing gene array analysis of adult spleen CD14+ DC, CD141+DC and CD1c+ DC. Once, we were confident we could clearly distinguish our populations (CD14+ cell, CD141+ DC and CD1c+ DC) of interest from other cells, we sorted FACS purified the cells and prepared them for gene array analysis. Through generating subset specific gene signatures and comparing CMAP scores we confirmed we had identified equivalent APC subsets across human adult skin and spleen. Overall design: APC were isolated from adult skin that was collagenase digeseted overnight by FACS. Adult spleen was collagenase digested for 1hr and the APC isolated by FACS. Gene expression analysis using total RNA from specific human APC subsets purified by FACS was performed.