Premium
Long‐lasting changes in the T‐cell receptor V beta repertoires of CD4 memory T‐cell populations in the peripheral blood of radiation‐exposed people
Author(s) -
Kusunoki Yoichiro,
Yamaoka Mika,
Kasagi Fumiyoshi,
Hayashi Tomonori,
MacPhee Donald G.,
Kyoizumi Seishi
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
british journal of haematology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.907
H-Index - 186
eISSN - 1365-2141
pISSN - 0007-1048
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-2141.2003.04520.x
Subject(s) - t cell receptor , population , t cell , biology , receptor , cohort , immunology , memory cell , genetics , medicine , immune system , quantum mechanics , physics , environmental health , transistor , voltage
Summary. To study the long‐term effects of radiation‐induced T‐cell depletion on the T‐cell receptor (TCR) Vβ repertoires of human peripheral CD4 T‐cell populations, we measured the percentages of CD4 T cells representing each of the full range of possible TCR Vβ families in a cohort of atomic bomb survivors. We then estimated the extent to which the expression levels for individual TCR Vβ families differed from the average expression level for that particular TCR Vβ family across the entire cohort. We found no evidence of a systematic change in the TCR Vβ repertoires of the naïve CD4 T‐cell populations, but memory CD4 T‐cell TCR Vβ family expression levels diverged significantly from the population average for counterpart families, especially in individuals who had been exposed to higher doses and were at least 20 years of age at the time of the bombing. Comparisons of the TCR Vβ family expression profiles in the naïve and memory CD4 T‐cell pools of the same group of adult survivors revealed that differences in the TCR Vβ repertoires of these two types of CD4 T‐cell pool were larger in more heavily exposed survivors than in unexposed controls. These findings suggest that the memory CD4 T‐cell pools of individuals who received significant radiation doses in adulthood may well have become (and could still be) dependent upon a much less diverse complement of TCR Vβ families than would otherwise have been the case.