miRNA profiling of FACS sorted human leukocyte cell types

Affymetrix miRNA arrays were used to generate miRNA profiles of peripheral blood leukocytes and FACS sorted neutrophils, monocytes, B-cells, T-cells, CD4+ T-cells, and CD8+ T-cells, being the major leukocyte cell types in human. The study allowed for the determination of the miRNAs that were expressed in each leukocyte cell subtype. Two-way hierarchical clustering on the miRNAs and samples illustrated that miRNA expression profiles of B- and T-cells were very much alike, and that there there were a number of miRNAs which appeared to have an expression profile specific to certain leukocyte cell subtypes. This study will facilitate the identification of microRNAs associated with and contributing to single leukocyte cell subtypes. Peripheral blood leukocytes were extracted, and neutrophils, monocytes, B-cells, T-cells, CD4+ T-cells, and CD8+ T-cells were FACS sorted from total blood from a healthy subject. In order to determine the miRNA expression profile of these cells, RNA was extracted, labeled and hybridized on an Affymetrix miRNA array.