Expression data from sorted Treg cells from WT or motheaten mice. Mus musculus

The importance of regulatory T cells (Treg) for immune tolerance is well recognized, yet the signaling molecules influencing their suppressive activity are relatively poorly understood. We identified the cytoplasmic tyrosine phosphatase SHP-1 as a novel ‘endogenous brake’ and modifier of the suppressive ability of Treg cells; consistent with this notion, loss of SHP-1 expression strongly augments the ability of Treg cells to suppress inflammation in a mouse model. Specific harmacological inhibition of SHP-1 enzymatic activity via the cancer drug sodium stibogluconate (SSG) potently augmented Treg cell suppressor activity both in vivo and ex vivo. We evaluated the gene expression profiles of sorted T reg cells (CD4+CD25+) from wild type (wt) mice and mice that were heterozygous (he) or homozygous (me) for SHP-1 knockout (motheaten phenotype). Overall design: T reg (CD4+CD25+) cells were isolated form wild type (WT) mice and that were heterozygous (he) or homozygous (me) for SHP-1 knockout (motheaten phenotype); totalRNA was isolated using Arcturus reagents; aRNA was generated and amplified using Arcturus reagents; and labeled product was hybridized to Affymetrix chips to asses gene expression patterns.