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Diverse T‐Cell Receptor CDR3 Length Patterns in Human CD4 + and CD8 + T Lymphocytes from Newborns and Adults
Author(s) -
Halapi E.,
JEDDITEHRANI M.,
BLÜCHER Å.,
ANDERSSON R.,
ROSSI P.,
WIGZELL H.,
GRUNEWALD J.
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
scandinavian journal of immunology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.934
H-Index - 88
eISSN - 1365-3083
pISSN - 0300-9475
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-3083.1999.00469.x
Subject(s) - t cell receptor , cd8 , biology , complementarity determining region , cytotoxic t cell , major histocompatibility complex , microbiology and biotechnology , t cell , antigen , immune system , immunology , gene , genetics , peptide sequence , in vitro
T cells are essential in the initiation and maintenance of immune responses. Specific interaction between T cells and a presumptive antigen occurs through recognition of an MHC—peptide complex by the T‐cell receptor (TCR). The complementarity‐determining region (CDR) 3 of the TCR has direct contact with the peptide. Here we describe CDR3 length variability of six different TCRBV gene families of CD4 + and CD8 + umbilical cord (UC) and peripheral blood (PB) T cells. Amplified products spanning the TCR CDR3 regions from CD4 + PB, CD4 + UC and CD8 + UC blood T cells typically displayed Gaussian‐like distributions. In contrast, profound and frequent perturbations were recorded in CD8 + PB lymphocytes, with a non‐Gaussian pattern in more than half of the samples studied. A substantial portion of the perturbed CD8 + subsets were clonal or oligoclonal, as determined by CDR3‐length restriction, TCRBJ gene usage and nucleotide sequencing. This implies that the conditions for shaping and maintenance of the peripheral TCR repertoire are profoundly different for CD8 + and CD4 + T cells.