Global gene expression changes in canine CD4+ peripheral T-cell lymphoma

We evaluate differential gene expression in 6 cases of canine CD4+ peripheral T-cell lymphoma (PTCL) compared to sorted CD4+ lymphocytes from the lymph nodes of healthy dogs.Lymph node aspirates from 6 dogs submited for routine diagnostics and diagnosed with CD4+ PTCL by flow cytometry were selected for RNA-seq. Patients were naïve to treatment at the time of sample submission. Aspirates from selected cases had a purity of greater than 88% neoplastic cells. Neoplastic cells were identified by the following immunophenotype: CD4+CD3+CD5+/-CD45+MHCIIlo. Hierarchical clustering of samples resulted in distinct separation of control lymphocytes and PTCL cases with intermixing of PTCL from Boxer and non-Boxer dogs. Top enriched pathways are involved in G-coupled protein receptor signaling, extracellular matrix remodeling and vascular development, inflammatory response and immune signaling, and mitotic activity. This study provides the global gene expression analysis of aggressive canine T-cell lymphoma using RNAsequencing. RNAsequencing of 6 canine CD4+ peripheral T-cell lymphoma samples compared to 3 sorted normal CD4+ control lymphocytes.