title: T-cell receptor V beta-family usage in primary cutaneous and primary nodal T-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphomas.
abstract: To evaluate whether the expression of T-cell receptor (TCR) V beta families in eight cases of malignant T-cell lymphomas took place in a preferential manner, we analyzed four cases of mycosis fungoides (MF), the most common form of primary cutaneous T-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphomas (NHL), and four cases of primary nodal T-cell NHL. The usage of V beta families in T-cell populations was investigated on mRNA that was transcribed to cDNA using a C beta primer and reverse transcriptase. Subsequently, the specific usage of the families was analyzed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using combinations of the selected C beta-oligonucleotide primer and one of the family-specific V beta primers. Peripheral blood lymphocytes from four healthy volunteers and 1 "reactive" lymph node served as a control and expressed all 20 V beta families tested for. In T-cell lines, with restricted V beta expression, and in three patients with advanced MF, only one or two V beta families were expressed at the mRNA level. In an early MF lesion this monoclonal expression was absent: several V beta families were expressed with a weak intensity. This may indicate either a polyclonal origin of MF, or that too few monoclonal neoplastic cells were present in the tissue specimen. In the four nodal T-cell NHL, only one family could be clearly distinguished, whereas some of the other V beta families showed only a weak expression. These latter families represent the reactive T-cell component in the nodal T-cell NHL. Both in nodal T-cell NHL and in MF there was no preferential expression of a particular V beta family. There was a good correlation between PCR data and the expression of V beta-family protein products observed by immunohistochemistry on tissue sections of the T-cell lymphomas. All T-cell lines, three cases of MF, and three cases of nodal T-cell NHL showed a rearrangement of the TCR beta chain on DNA level.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, University Hospital Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: A H
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Preesman
authors.forename: H Z
authors.initials: HZ
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.forename: M G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Tilanus
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: de Geus
authors.forename: H J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Schuurman
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Reitsma
authors.forename: D F
authors.initials: DF
authors.lastname: van Wichen
authors.forename: W A
authors.initials: WA
authors.lastname: van Vloten
authors.forename: R A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: de Weger
mesh_terms: D001483:Base Sequence; D015870:Gene Expression; D015333:Gene Rearrangement, beta-Chain T-Cell Antigen Receptor; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D016130:Immunophenotyping; D016399:Lymphoma, T-Cell / Q000235:genetics* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D016410:Lymphoma, T-Cell, Cutaneous / Q000235:genetics* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000032:analysis; D016693:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, alpha-beta / Q000235:genetics*; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured
chemical_list: D012333:RNA, Messenger; D016693:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, alpha-beta