T-cell repertoire diversity and clonal expansions in normal and clinical samples.
Improved polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based methods now permit a more in-depth analysis of the repertoire of T cells recovered in biological samples from mice and humans. At a certain level of resolution, the diversity of the T-cell repertoire can be readily estimated and clonal expansions become easily detectable. As discussed here by Christophe Pannetier, Jos Even and Philippe Kourilsky, these improvements allow a better appreciation of the degree of reproducibility of immune responses, both in mice and humans, and should have a significant impact on clinical investigations.
Pannetier
C
C
Unité de Biologie Moléculaire du Gène, INSERM, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France.
Even
J
J
Kourilsky
P
P
D000818:Animals; D002999:Clone Cells; D015333:Gene Rearrangement, beta-Chain T-Cell Antigen Receptor; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D016176:T-Lymphocyte Subsets / Q000166:cytology / Q000276:immunology; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000166:cytology / Q000276:immunology*