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RESTRICTED USAGE OF T‐CELL RECEPTOR Vα GENES IN INFILTRATING CELLS IN MURINE HEARTS WITH ACUTE MYOCARDITIS CAUSED BY COXSACKIE VIRUS B3
Author(s) -
SEKO YOSHINORI,
YOSHIFUMI ENOKAWA,
YAGITA HIDEO,
OKUMURA KO,
YAZAKI YOSHIO
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
the journal of pathology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.964
H-Index - 184
eISSN - 1096-9896
pISSN - 0022-3417
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1096-9896(199603)178:3<330::aid-path480>3.0.co;2-q
Subject(s) - t cell receptor , myocarditis , viral myocarditis , biology , major histocompatibility complex , t cell , immunology , virus , antigen , immune system , microbiology and biotechnology , virology , medicine
In murine myocarditis, it has been shown that natural killer cells first infiltrate the heart, followed by activated T‐cells, which play an important role in the pathogenesis of the myocardial damage. In the same model of acute myocarditis, the repertoire of T‐cell receptor (TCR) Vα genes in infiltrating cells in the heart has also been shown to be restricted. To study the nature of T‐cell infiltration in more detail, the expression of TCR Vα genes in infiltrating cells in the heart has been analysed by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), confirmed by Southern blot hybridization with a Cα cDNA probe. In contrast to spleen lymphocytes, the repertoire of Vα gene transcripts in the heart was restricted. Infiltrating cells expressing Vα10 were found in five of eight hearts of mice with acute myocarditis and infiltrating cells expressing Vα7 and Vα3 were found in two of eight and one of eight hearts, respectively. Restricted TCR Vα as well as Vβ repertoires indicate that a specific antigen, in the heart was targeted, presented at the groove of major histocompatibility complex molecules. These findings raise the possibility of specific immunotherapy with synthetic TCR Vα or Vβ peptides to prevent T‐cell‐mediated myocardial damage in patients with viral myocarditis.