title: Identification of a limited T-cell receptor beta chain variable region repertoire associated with diabetes in the BB rat.
abstract: Diabetes-prone BB rats spontaneously develop type 1 diabetes due to a T-cell-dependent destruction of insulin-producing beta-islet cells. A number of T-cell abnormalities including lymphopenia, poor cell-mediated responsiveness to alloantigen, and an absence of an RT6+ T-cell subset are associated with disease susceptibility. Our previous studies have implicated the thymic antigen-presenting cell in influencing disease potential and responsiveness to alloantigen. Since this cell type is also known to influence T-cell receptor expression in developing thymocytes, we examined the thymic and peripheral T-cell receptor beta chain variable region repertoire in diabetes-prone and diabetes-resistant rats. Our findings indicate that animals susceptible to diabetes induction have a characteristic and limited peripheral beta chain variable region repertoire that differs markedly from that expressed in the thymus.
authors.affiliation: La Jolla Institute for Experimental Medicine, CA 92037.
authors.forename: D P
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Gold
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Bellgrau
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D003921:Diabetes Mellitus, Experimental / Q000235:genetics*; D015870:Gene Expression; D015333:Gene Rearrangement, beta-Chain T-Cell Antigen Receptor; D005796:Genes; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009841:Oligonucleotides / Q000737:chemistry; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics; D051381:Rats; D011913:Rats, Inbred BB / Q000235:genetics*; D011920:Rats, Inbred WF; D016693:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, alpha-beta / Q000235:genetics*; D013950:Thymus Gland / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D009841:Oligonucleotides; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D016693:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, alpha-beta