A conserved human T cell population targets mycobacterial antigens presented by CD1b.
Nat Immunol 2013;
14:706-13. [PMID:
23727893 PMCID:
PMC3723453 DOI:
10.1038/ni.2630]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 160] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/06/2013] [Accepted: 04/29/2013] [Indexed: 02/08/2023]
Abstract
T cell receptors (TCRs) pair in millions of combinations to create complex and personally unique T cell repertoires. Using tetramers to analyze CD1b-reactive TCRs, we detected T cells with highly stereotyped TCR α chains present among genetically unrelated tuberculosis patients. These germline-encoded mycolyl-reactive (GEM) T cells were defined by CD4 expression and rearrangement of TRAV1-2 to TRAJ9 with few N-region additions. TCR analysis by high throughput sequencing, binding and crystallography showed linkage of TCR α sequence motifs to high affinity antigen recognition. Thus, the CD1-reactive TCR repertoire is composed of at least two compartments, high affinity GEM TCRs and more diverse TCRs with low affinity for CD1b-lipid complexes. These data demonstrate high inter-donor conservation of TCRs, which likely results from selection by a non-polymorphic antigen presenting molecule and an immunodominant antigen.
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