Elucidation of roles of Nr4a nuclear orphan receptors and Foxp3 in thymic Treg cell development

Both Nr4a family nuclear orphan receptors and Foxp3 had been revealed to be crucial transcription factors in Treg cell development. In this study, to reveal their roles in a Treg cell developmental transcriptional programs, we compared transcriptomes among wild-type conventional CD4 T (Tconv) cells, wild-type Treg cells, Nr4a-triple-knockout (Nr4a-TKO) Treg precursor (preTreg) cells, and Foxp3-KO preTreg cells by microarray. Total RNA was extracted from wild-type Tconv (CD4-single positive (CD4SP),CD25-low) thymocytes, wild-type thymic Treg (CD4SP, Foxp3+), Nr4a-TKO preTreg (CD4SP, CD25-high, GITR-high, Nr4a3-high), and Foxp3-KO preTreg (CD4SP, CD25high, Foxp3-reporter+) cells. Each cell population was analyzed with two biological replicates.