Blood samples were collected in triplicates from six rabbits, six mice, six human donors and four NHP. Blood was collected into PAXgene tubes (#BD762165, BD Biosciences) for mouse, NHP and human samples or into lithium heparin tubes for the rabbit samples (#13,526,530, Greiner). For PAXgene conservation, a blood:reagent ratio of 2.5:6.9 was conserved, regardless the species [14 (link)–17 (link)]. Next, 150 µl (mouse), 250 µl (NHP) and 2.5 ml (human) of each blood sample was dispensed into 1.5 ml Eppendorf tubes or 15 ml Falcon tubes to which 414 µl, 690 µl and 6.9 ml PAXgene reagent were added, respectively. For the rabbit samples, 3 ml of total blood were dispensed into 3 ml lithium-heparin tubes (#13,526,530, Greiner). 1 ml of heparinized blood was then mixed with 2.8 ml of PAXgene reagent into 15 ml Falcon tube (#352,097, Falcon). After collection, the tubes were inverted 10 times and stored upright at room temperature (18 °C–25ºC) for a minimum of 2 h and a maximum of 72 h before transferring to a freezer at -20 °C for 24 h and then at -80 °C until RNA extraction.
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