title: Limited heterogeneity of T cell receptor variable region gene usage in juvenile rheumatoid arthritis synovial T cells.
abstract: The aim of this study was to determine whether synovial fluid (SF) T cells in patients with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA) are restricted in their T cell receptor (TcR) gene repertoire. The quantitative polymerase chain reaction (QPCR) was used to compare the transcription of V beta and V alpha gene families in freshly isolated SF T cells, in interleukin-2 receptor-positive (IL-2R+) T cells and in peripheral blood (PB) T cells from 18 patients. Significantly less V beta families are detected in SF when compared with PB (p greater than 0.0003). The TcR V beta gene usage by IL-2R+ T cells was even less heterogeneous when compared with freshly isolated SF T cells (p greater than 0.0002). Freshly isolated SF T cells from the left and the right knees of four patients transcribed the same V beta families. Furthermore, we demonstrate that in SF the distribution of certain TcR V beta gene segments in CD4+ and CD8+ T cells differed from that in PB of the same patient. The TcR V alpha usage was studied in IL-2R+ T cells from six patients who had shown restriction in their SF TcR V beta gene usage. Only two to five TcR alpha transcripts were detected in three of these patients while a broad TcR V alpha usage was seen in the other three patients. Sequence analysis of the SF V beta 20 cDNA clones generated from the IL-2R+ T cells of two patients demonstrated an oligoclonal expansion. Taken together, our data could indicate an antigen- and/or superantigen-driven expansion of selected T cells in the synovial compartment.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Immunology and Rheumatology, National Hospital, Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sioud
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kjeldsen-Kragh
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Suleyman
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Vinje
authors.forename: J B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Natvig
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Førre
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001171:Arthritis, Juvenile / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D002648:Child; D004247:DNA / Q000737:chemistry; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016693:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, alpha-beta / Q000235:genetics*; D013582:Synovial Fluid / Q000276:immunology*; D016176:T-Lymphocyte Subsets / Q000276:immunology; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D014158:Transcription, Genetic
chemical_list: D016693:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, alpha-beta; D004247:DNA