Transcriptome analysis of TACI-deficient and WT naïve T cells

TACI (transmembrane activator and calcium modulator and cyclophilin ligand interactor) plays critical roles in B cells by promoting immunoglobulin class-switching and plasma cell survival. However, its expression and function in T cells remain controversial. In this study, we found that TACI deficiency in mice results in expansion of TH17 and Treg populations. To understand the mechanisms underlying increased frequencies and numbers of TH17 cells correlated with more severe colitis in TACI-/- mice, microarray-based transcriptome analysis was conducted to identify genes that were differentially expressed in TACI-/- vs WT naive CD4+ T cells. Naive CD4+ T cells were FACS-sorted from pooled spleens and lymph nodes of TACI-/- and WT mice (n = 2 each).跨膜激活剂及钙调调节剂和亲环蛋白配体相互作用因子（transmembrane activator and calcium modulator and cyclophilin ligand interactor，TACI）可通过促进免疫球蛋白类别转换与浆细胞存活，在B细胞中发挥关键功能。然而，其在T细胞中的表达与功能仍存在争议。本研究发现，小鼠体内TACI缺陷会导致辅助性T细胞17（TH17）与调节性T细胞（Treg）群体扩增。为阐明TACI缺陷型（TACI-/-）小鼠中TH17细胞频率与数量升高、且伴随更严重结肠炎的潜在机制，本研究开展了基于微阵列的转录组分析，以鉴定TACI-/-与野生型（wild type，WT）初始CD4+ T细胞间的差异表达基因。研究人员从TACI-/-及WT小鼠（每组各2只）的混合脾脏与淋巴结中，通过荧光激活细胞分选（fluorescence-activated cell sorting，FACS）分离得到初始CD4+ T细胞。