RNA-seq analysis of human peripheral blood Treg cells stratified into four equal fractions according to CD38 intensity

Sensitivity of regulatory T cells (Tregs) to extracellular nucleotides such as ATP and NAD⁺ differs substantially between mice and humans. Mouse Tregs undergo robust apoptosis in response to even low concentrations of ATP or NAD⁺, whereas human Tregs show markedly reduced sensitivity to these nucleotides. In our preliminary analyses, however, we observed that a subset of human Tregs expressing low levels of CD38 exhibited increased sensitivity to ATP/NAD⁺. To investigate the molecular mechanisms underlying this enhanced sensitivity, human peripheral blood Tregs were stratified into four fractions based on CD38 expression levels and subjected to RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) analysis.