Description
Mice used were B6/129 F2's, 3-5 weeks of age, either wild type or with both copies of the autoimmune regulator gene (aire, GenBank #AF079536) disrupted. Thymi from five of these mice of both sexes were removed and pooled. After collagenase/dispase digestion, density gradient fractionation, and fluorescent antibody staining, cells with the phenotype CD45-, G8.8+, CDR1int and B7.1hi were FACS-sorted and total RNA was made from them. RNA was twice-amplified using a T7 polymerase-based method.