Characterization of T cell receptor beta chains of accumulating T cells in skin allografts in mice

Antigen-specific expansion of TCR Vbeta3+ CD4+ T cells in the early stage of collagen-induced arthritis and its arthritogenic role in DBA/1J mice

To investigate type II collagen (CII)-specific CD4+ T cell receptors involving in Collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) in DBA/1J mice as a model of rheumatoid arthritis in humans, TCR Vbeta usage in draining lymph nodes (dLNs) was assessed by flow cytometric analysis at 3, 5, and 8 weeks after bovine CII immunizations. In the early stage of CIA, the draining lymph node CD4+ T cells from CIA mice showed a higher proportion of CD4+ Vbeta3+ subsets compared with those from control mice. The CD4+ Vbeta3+ T cells were specifically and primarily expanded by antigen-specific stimulation in in vitro culture of dLNs lymphocytes and splenocytes from CIA mice. In addition, CII-reactive response was observed when CD4+ Vbeta3+ T cells were added to a non-responding T cell population. The adoptive transfer of CD4+ Vbeta3+ T cells produced exaggerated arthritis compared with that in the control group. Our results indicate that CD4+ Vbeta3+ T cells, which were selectively expanded in dLN of CIA mice, play a pivotal role in CIA pathogenesis.

Analysis of T cell receptor (TCR) BV-gene clonotypes in NC/Nga mice developing dermatitis resembling human atopic dermatitis

BACKGROUND

Our previous study showed that T cells in skin lesions of human atopic dermatitis (AD) had oligoclonal accumulation, indicating the involvement of antigen-specific immune reactions at those sites. Recently, NC/Nga mice, which develop skin lesions similar to AD, have been proposed as a model for that disease.

OBJECTIVE

To clarify whether NC/Nga mice are suitable as a model for human AD from the viewpoint of their antigen-specific immune responses.

METHODS

Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and single strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) analyses were conducted to detect TCR BV genes of clonally expanded T cells derived from NC/Nga mice at an early phase of the AD-like dermatitis, at a late phase of the dermatitis, and with no AD-like dermatitis.

RESULTS

(1) T cells with TCR BV 7, 10 and 17 reside in the skin of NC/Nga mice without the AD-like dermatitis. (2) T cells with these BV genes contain oligoclonal accumulations, however, expanded T cell clonotypes are also detected in the spleen and exist constantly during the course of the AD-like dermatitis. (3) Development of the AD-like dermatitis is associated with additional oligoclonal expansion/accumulation of T cells with TCR BV 2, 4 and 6 genes. (4) Progression of the AD-like dermatitis is associated with further oligoclonal expansion/accumulation of T cells with the TCR BV 14 gene. (5) Some of the expanded TCR clonotypes are common between the individual mice and between early and late phases.

CONCLUSIONS

Taking these data together with the previous human AD studies, NC/Nga mice seem to be an appropriate model for human AD.

Characterization of T cell receptor beta chains of accumulating T cells in chronic ongoing myocarditis demonstrated by heterotopic cardiac transplantation in mice

Autoimmne mechanisms have been implicated in the pathogenesis of chronic ongoing mycarditis. An earlier study of murine chronic ongoing myocarditis reported that infiltrating T cells and macrophages were prominent in the normal donor heart, in a heterotopic cardiac transplantation model. It was demonstrated that myocarditis was transferred to a normal heart transplanted into a mouse with chronic myocarditis. The present study investigated an autoimmune link to the pathogenesis of chronic ongoing myocarditis by analyzing the T cell clonalities in the model. To characterize the accumulating T cells in the donor heart, the T cell receptor beta genes (TCRBG) were amplified by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) from mRNA in the donor hearts and accumulating TCRBG clonotypes were contrasted with those from recipient hearts. Inbred 3-week-old A/J mice were inoculated intraperitoneally with Coxsackievirus B3 (Nancy strain), 2 x 10(4) PFU, and housed for more than 60 days. Normal A/J mouse hearts were transplanted into the same strain of mice without myocarditis, as well as into the mice with chronic ongoing myocarditis. Both recipient and donor hearts were evaluated histologically 2 weeks after the transplantation. TCRBG were amplified by RT-PCR from mRNA of recipient and donor hearts and spleens. The specific accumulating TCRBG clonotypes were identified by their single strand conformation polymorphism. Multiple clonotypic accumulations occurred in the donor heart after cardiac transplantation. Distinct oligoclonal accumulation of TCR Vbeta1, 10, and 13 T cells was found in both recipient and donor hearts in 3 of 4 mice. Moreover, these clonotypes were not observed in spleen cells of the recipient mice. T specific cells expanding clonotypes of TCRBG are responsible for transferring myocarditis to the donor heart. An autoimmune response may, therefore, play a key role in the progression of chronic ongoing myocarditis.

T cell receptor repertoire usage in allotransplantation: an overview

Lymphocytes express antigen receptors that allow the immune system to specifically recognize antigens. In transplantation, T cells play a critical role in the rejection process, and different protocols inhibiting T cell-mediated alloreactivity efficiently achieve prolongation of allograft survival. T cells can interact with alloantigens by two ways, either by the "indirect" pathway that correspond to the physiological mechanism of T cell immune recognition, or through the "direct" pathway where they recognize alloantigens directly on the surface of donor cells. If some T cells are specifically activated in allorecognition, one should be able to indirectly detect this "selection" by analyzing the T cell receptor usage that could be biased and reflect the preferential amplification of alloreactive lymphocyte subsets. Nevertheless compared with disease states such as cancer or autoimmunity the T cell receptor repertoire is still largely uncharacterized. We review the current results available on T cell repertoire usage in transplantation studies involving humans or various animal models. The T cell receptor repertoire involved in transplantation (restricted or unrestricted) and the features potentially common to alloimmune responses will be discussed.

Characterisation of T cell clonotypes that accumulated in multiple joints of patients with rheumatoid arthritis

OBJECTIVE

To investigate whether identical T cell clonotypes accumulate in multiple rheumatoid joints, the clonality of T cells that had infiltrated into synovial tissue (ST) samples simultaneously obtained from multiple joints of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) was analysed.

METHODS

T cell receptor (TCR) beta gene transcripts, amplified by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction from ST and peripheral blood lymphocytes of five RA patients, were subjected to single strand conformation polymorphism analysis and DNA sequencing.

RESULTS

Approximately 40% of accumulated T cell clonotypes found in one joint of a patient were found in multiple joints in the same patient. Furthermore, identical amino acid sequences were found in TCR beta junctional regions of these clonotypes from different patients with at least one HLA molecule match.

CONCLUSIONS

The T cell clonotypes accumulating in multiple rheumatoid joints may be involved in the perpetuation of polyarthritis by reacting to antigens common to these multiple joints.

Clonal expansion of T cells that are specific for autologous ovarian tumor among tumor-infiltrating T cells in humans

OBJECTIVE

The purpose of this study was to determine whether oligoclonally expanding tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL) were tumor-specific.

STUDY DESIGN

Peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) from an ovarian tumor-bearing patient were stimulated in vitro with an autologous cancer cell line (SMOV-2). Then genes coding for the third complementarity-determining region of the T cell receptor (TCR) beta chain were amplified by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and separated by single-strand conformation polymorphism. Accumulated TCR clonotypes in vitro and in vivo in TIL were compared.

RESULTS

Clonal expansion of T cells was generated from PBL by stimulation with SMOV-2. A portion of the proliferated clonotypes was found to be identical to those accumulated in TIL in vivo.

CONCLUSION

This is the first demonstration that accumulating T cell clones in TIL recognize antigen(s) on an autologous tumor. Further characterization of such T cell clonotypes may lead to tumor antigen-specific immunotherapy.

Frequent clonal expansion of peripheral T cells in patients with autoimmune diseases: a novel detecting system possibly applicable to laboratory examination

To investigate T cell involvement in antigen-specific immune responses, it is important to detect accumulating T cells at a clonal level in vivo. However, thus far the clinical application of such analyses has been limited. Here we have established novel primers to anneal with T cell receptor (TCR) beta genes of multiple Vbeta families and applied them to reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction-single strand conformation polymorphism (RT-PCR-SSCP) analysis to evaluate peripheral T cell clonality of autoimmune disease patients. As a result, the new Vbeta primers could detect accumulating T cell clones in the periphery of healthy individuals and patients. It was revealed that patients with autoimmune diseases such as systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) had a larger number of clonal accumulations of peripheral T cells compared with normal individuals. Thus, the RT-PCR-SSCP system using the new multifamily Vbeta primers is the first such laboratory examination to detect T cell clonal expansion, and will provide a simple and sensitive tool to aid in the diagnosis and also in the investigation of the pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases.