title: The T-cell receptor V beta gene usage in tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes and blood of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.
abstract: To determine a possibly restricted T-cell receptor (TCR) repertoire in tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL) in response to tumor-associated antigens in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), freshly isolated TIL (n = 5) and peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL; n = 6; 3 paired with TIL) were studied for expression of TCR variable (V) beta regions. RNA purified from TIL or PBL was reverse-transcribed into complementary DNA. This complementary DNA was amplified by quantitative polymerase chain reaction with 22 primers specific for 20 TCR V beta gene families and a 3' constant (C) beta primer. As a reference for later quantitation, a fragment of TCR C alpha was coamplified with each V beta region. Using 32P-labeled 3' primers, the percentage of total V beta expression was calculated by measuring the cpm of each of the amplified products. In contrast to PBL of 6 control, healthy individuals, whose range of expression of each TCR V beta gene varied from 0 to 13%, the expression of some V beta genes in HCC TIL was as high as 33%, indicating a restricted TCR V beta usage in HCC TIL. When polymerase chain reaction-amplified complementary DNAs of the V beta 1 or V beta 3 genes obtained from two TIL preparations were cloned and sequenced, the same rearrangements were found in the majority of DNA clones. The particular V beta genes that were over- or underrepresented in TIL varied among the patients. In 3 of 6 PBL and 3 of 5 TIL, the V beta 3 gene was expressed with a relatively high frequency. The V beta 4 gene expression was consistently low in patients' TIL or PBL. In 3 paired PBL and TIL, V beta expression was similar. In 5 of 6 cases, HCC PBL had different TCR V beta frequencies from those seen in normal PBL. This analysis of TCR V beta usage in freshly isolated TIL and in PBL indicated that T-lymphocytes in patients with HCC might have restricted immunological reactivity and that V beta 3-restricted TIL might represent antitumor effector cells.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pennsylvania.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Weidmann
authors.forename: T L
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: Whiteside
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Giorda
authors.forename: R B
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Herberman
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Trucco
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology*; D005784:Gene Amplification; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D015333:Gene Rearrangement, beta-Chain T-Cell Antigen Receptor / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology*; D016246:Lymphocytes, Tumor-Infiltrating / Q000276:immunology*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012313:RNA / Q000032:analysis*; D016693:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, alpha-beta / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D016693:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, alpha-beta; D012313:RNA