title: Abnormal TCR V beta repertoire in patients with chronic myeloid leukaemia.
abstract: We have used 25 sets of oligonucleotide primers specific for the 24 known major human T-cell receptor (TCR) V beta families in polymerase chain reactions to analyse the T-cell repertoire of the peripheral blood in seven patients with chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML). In contrast to normal healthy individuals, all seven patients exhibited variable degrees of TCR V beta-specific T-cell deletion, ranging from two to eight of the 24 major families. T cells bearing V beta 17 and 8 were most commonly deleted. These results suggest a superantigen effect associated with CML. The patterns of deletion did not appear to correlate with either of the two bcr-abl transcripts. The reason and aetiological agent responsible for the T-cell deletion remain speculative. Further work is ongoing to characterize this phenomenon in animal models and patients with CML.
authors.affiliation: Department of Haematology, University of Wales College of Medicine, Cardiff.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Coleman
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Perera
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fisher
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hoy
authors.forename: A K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Burnett
authors.forename: S H
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Lim
mesh_terms: D001483:Base Sequence; D017931:DNA Primers; D016044:Fusion Proteins, bcr-abl / Q000032:analysis; D006801:Humans; D015464:Leukemia, Myelogenous, Chronic, BCR-ABL Positive / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016693:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, alpha-beta / Q000235:genetics*; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers; D016693:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, alpha-beta; D016044:Fusion Proteins, bcr-abl