scRNA-seq of human CD45+ cells proliferated in the salivary grand or peripheral blood of CD8T cells depleted PBMC-transferred humanized mice

We found that the transfer of PBMCs depleted of CD8 T cells into immunodeficient mice resulted in the development of Sjögren's syndrome-like salivary gland symptoms without causing GVHD. To characterize the human immune cells infiltrating the salivary glands, we examined the profiles of human immune cells in the salivary glands or peripheral blood of humanized mice by 10x Genomics single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq). We revealed that human Tph-like cells co-expressing IL-21 and CXCL13 were highly infiltrated in the salivary glands of CD8 T cell-depleted humanized mice. Peripheral blood or salivary glands were collected from immunodeficient mice transplanted with either human PBMCs or PBMCs depleted of CD8 T cells, and mononuclear cells were isolated by density gradient centrifugation. Human CD45+ cells were sorted by fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) using a BD Aria III, and scRNA-seq analysis was performed.