title: Polyclonal use of T-cell receptor alpha for human T-cell lymphotropic virus type 1-infected T cells.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To understand better the immunopathology of HTLV-I uveitis by investigating the clonality of HTLV-I-infected T-cell clones.
  
  
  METHODS
  Eleven T-cell clones were established from the aqueous humor (six clones) and the peripheral blood (five clones) of a patient with HTLV-I uveitis, and the clonality of the HTLV-I-infected T cells was investigated by sequencing the T-cell receptor (TCR) alpha gene after the amplification of TCR alpha cDNA using an adaptor-ligation method and reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR).
  
  
  RESULTS
  TCR alpha use was different for each of 11 T-cell clones, encompassing eight different HTLV-I-infected T-cell clones (four from the aqueous humor and four from peripheral blood) and three HTLV-I-negative T-cell clones.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study demonstrated polyclonal use of TCR alpha for HTLV-I-infected T cells in the ocular lesion and the peripheral blood. Results suggested that these T cells are not precursors of the leukemic cells associated with malignant transformation. Instead, they might be randomly infected with HTLV-I in the process of HTLV-I uveitis.
authors: Department of Immunology, Kurume University School of Medicine, Japan.
authors: K
authors: K
authors: Masuoka
authors: K
authors: K
authors: Sagawa
authors: M
authors: M
authors: Mochizuki
authors: K
authors: K
authors: Oizumi
authors: K
authors: K
authors: Itoh
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001483:Base Sequence; D002999:Clone Cells; D004247:DNA / Q000032:analysis; D015490:HTLV-I Infections / Q000276:immunology; D015368:Human T-lymphotropic virus 1 / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D016693:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, alpha-beta / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000821:virology*; D014605:Uveitis / Q000276:immunology / Q000821:virology
chemical_list: D016693:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, alpha-beta; D004247:DNA