Divergent T cell receptor gamma repertoires in rheumatoid arthritis monozygotic twins.
OBJECTIVE
To determine if the expressed T cell receptor (TCR) gamma repertoire is altered in rheumatoid arthritis (RA).


METHODS
Peripheral blood lymphocytes were collected from monozygotic twins who were either concordant or discordant for RA, or from a normal twin pair. TCR gamma-specific complementary DNA libraries were constructed using the anchored polymerase chain reaction. Gene usage was analyzed by plaque hybridization and sequencing.


RESULTS
The expressed TCR V gamma repertoires both in RA patients and normal subjects were extremely diverse. Monozygotic twins who were concordant for RA expressed very different frequencies of TCR V gamma genes.


CONCLUSIONS
RA does not lead to a specific clonal expansion or deletion of TCR V gamma genes in peripheral blood.
Kohsaka
H
H
Sam and Rose Stein Institute for Research on Aging, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla 92093-0663.
Chen
P P
PP
Taniguchi
A
A
Ollier
W E
WE
Carson
D A
DA
D000328:Adult; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000235:genetics*; D001483:Base Sequence; D004200:Diseases in Twins / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D005784:Gene Amplification; D006801:Humans; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation / Q000235:genetics; D008875:Middle Aged; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016692:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, gamma-delta / Q000235:genetics*; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D014158:Transcription, Genetic; D014430:Twins, Monozygotic
D016692:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, gamma-delta