T cell receptor repertoire of infiltrating T cells in lips of Sjögren's syndrome patients.
Infiltrating T cells around salivary glands in the lips of Sjögren's syndrome (SjS) patients are crucial in the pathogenesis of this disease. To analyze the nature of infiltrating T cells, their T cell receptor repertoire was examined with quantitative polymerase chain reaction. The repertoire of V beta transcripts in lips of SjS was not restricted; however, the V beta 2 and V beta 13 genes were predominantly expressed on the T cells of lip specimens in six and four of seven lips, respectively. Predominance of these genes was specific in lips because no predominant V beta transcripts were found in lips from healthy subjects and PBLs from SjS patients. These results indicated that the V beta 2- and V beta 13-positive T cells expanded specifically and preferentially in SjS lips, thereby suggesting the possible role in triggering the autoimmunity of this disease.
Sumida
T
T
Second Department of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, Chiba University, Japan.
Yonaha
F
F
Maeda
T
T
Tanabe
E
E
Koike
T
T
Tomioka
H
H
Yoshida
S
S
D001483:Base Sequence; D015870:Gene Expression; D006801:Humans; D008046:Lip / Q000276:immunology; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D016693:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, alpha-beta / Q000235:genetics*; D012469:Salivary Glands / Q000276:immunology*; D012859:Sjogren's Syndrome / Q000276:immunology*; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*
D016693:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, alpha-beta