Limited heterogeneity of T-cell receptor V beta gene expression in the early stage of insulitis in NOD mice.
Non-obese-diabetic (NOD) mice spontaneously develop type I diabetes. The disease starts with T cells infiltrating the islets of Langerhans. We therefore examined the T-cell receptor (TCR) V beta region repertoire in islet infiltrates from individual female NOD mice from 4 to 10 week old by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using V beta 1-V beta 17 specific oligonucleotides. The study revealed a limited heterogeneity of TCR V beta transcripts with a predominance of V beta 1 at the onset of insulitis, i.e. at 4 weeks of age. The TCR VDJ beta sequences of the V beta 1 PCR fragments were identical in most of the individual mice. Among several different mice, similarities in the beta-junctional regions were detected. In contrast, a large heterogeneity of TCR V beta usage was found in mice with advanced insulitis, i.e., from 6 weeks of age on. Thus, these data suggest a limited heterogeneity of TCR V beta usage with a predominance of V beta 1 at the initiation phase of the disease.
Drexler
K
K
Preclinical Research, Sandoz Pharma, Basel, Switzerland.
Burtles
S
S
Hurtenbach
U
U
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D003922:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 / Q000276:immunology*; D004591:Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel; D005260:Female; D015870:Gene Expression; D007515:Islets of Langerhans / Q000276:immunology*; D008198:Lymph Nodes / Q000276:immunology; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D016688:Mice, Inbred NOD; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010195:Pancreatitis / Q000276:immunology*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000378:metabolism; D016693:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, alpha-beta / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology
D012333:RNA, Messenger; D016693:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, alpha-beta