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Isolation of a CD8αα+ CD4– tumour T‐cell clone with cytotoxic activity from a CD4+ CD8– cutaneous T‐cell lymphoma
Author(s) -
Nikolova M.,
Echchakir H.,
Wechsler J.,
Boumsell L.,
Bensussan A.,
Bagot M.
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
british journal of dermatology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.304
H-Index - 179
eISSN - 1365-2133
pISSN - 0007-0963
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-2133.2003.05015.x
Subject(s) - cd8 , cytotoxic t cell , clone (java method) , biology , t cell receptor , mycosis fungoides , cutaneous t cell lymphoma , cd3 , t cell , phenotype , population , peripheral t cell lymphoma , lymphoma , immunology , cancer research , microbiology and biotechnology , genetics , antigen , immune system , medicine , gene , in vitro , environmental health
Summary Background We have previously established tumour T‐cell lines, both from the skin and from the blood of patients with a cutaneous T‐cell lymphoma (CTCL). In one patient, the tumour cells and the derived cell lines had a CD3+ CD4+ CD8– phenotype and a trisomy of chromosome 7. They expressed three T‐cell receptor (TCR) β‐chain transcripts, but only one was productively rearranged and expressed at the cell membrane. Objectives In the present study, we tried to isolate a fast‐growing new tumour T‐cell line from the same patient. Patients/methods We performed direct cell cloning of the skin tumour lymphocyte population, which led to the isolation of an interleukin‐2‐dependent highly proliferative T‐cell subclone, named Cou‐L3, with a CD3+ TCR‐Vβ13+ CD4– CD8αα+ phenotype. Results We demonstrated that Cou‐L3 was identical to the original clonal tumour CD3+ Vβ13+ CD4+ CD8– cells, as it expressed the same rearranged TCR‐Vβ13 chain. We further studied the functional activity of these CD8αα+ Vβ13+ Cou‐L3 cells. We found that these cells exhibited CD3‐redirected cytotoxic activity. Conclusions An immunophenotypic shift, with a change from a CD4+ to a CD8+ phenotype, has been already reported in association with disease progression in CTCL. However, in these cases, there has been no demonstration that the phenotypic change involved the same T‐cell clone. The present study is the first report of the phenotypic heterogeneity of the tumour clonal cell population in CTCL.