MicroRNA expression profiling of highly purified CD4+ human T cell subsets

The development and propagation of an adaptive immune response to an invading pathogen is a highly orchestrated process that involves the precise regulation of cytokine expression. Naïve CD4+ T lymphocytes give rise to T helper (Th) cell subsets with functions that are tailored to their respective roles in host defense. MicroRNAs are important regulators of most cellular processes, including many responses in the immune system. To identify novel microRNAs that might be important in human T helper cell differentiation to different subsets we purified T cell subsets from peripheral blood and performed microRNA arratys at Exiqon. Naïve, Th1, Th2, Th17 and Tregs were FACS-sorted ex-vivo from peripheral blood of 6-11 donors. Due to the very low amount of starting material total RNA from at least 6 different donors was pooled and anlaysed on the arrays. All samples were analyzed against a common reference, which was made by pooling together a small amount of total CD4+ cells from all donors.