['Profiling mRNA levels of 11 informative genes expressed by circulating immune effector cells identifies cardiac allograft recipients at low risk for current moderate-severe acute cellular rejection (ACR).', 'We conducted a nested case-control study of 104 cardiac allograft recipients to investigate the association of transcriptional profiles of blood samples with either a future rejection episode within 12 weeks of a baseline clinical sample or persistent histologic quiescence for the same time period.', 'The transcription profile yielded a score (0 to 40 scale) of 27.4 +/- 6.3 for future rejectors (n = 39) and 23.9 +/- 7.1 for controls (n = 65) (p = 0.01). In patients who were <or=180 days post-transplant, the gene expression score was 28.4 +/- 4.9 for rejectors (n = 28) and 22.4 +/- 7.5 for controls (n = 48) (p < 0.001). In this period, no samples from patients who went on to reject within 12 weeks had gene expression scores of <20. Differential expression of the gene IL1R2 was significantly associated with future events. Of 33 additional genes profiled, 5 supported corticosteroid-sensitive constituents (IL1R2 and FLT3), whereas 6 supported T-cell activation (PDCD1).'] Are transcriptional signals of T-cell and corticosteroid-sensitive genes associated with future acute cellular rejection in cardiac allografts?