title: Analysis of clonal antigen receptor gene rearrangements in T-cells involved with Kaposi's sarcoma.
abstract: Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) is a multifocal neoplasm of unknown origin. All forms of KS are composed of spindle-shaped cells with elongated nuclei and sheets of endothelial-like cells. The proliferation of spindle cells is accompanied by the presence of an inflammatory infiltrate composed predominantly of T-cells. It has been suggested that this infiltrate might consist of a virally stimulated clonal population of T-lymphocytes which can produce growth factors initiating and substaining the proliferation of spindle-shaped cells. In this study we analyzed for clonal T-cell receptor gama gene rearrangements the T-cell populations present in the cutaneous infiltrate of seven cases of classical Kaposi's sarcoma using a polymerase chain reaction-based approach. Our data demonstrate the lack of a significant clonal population of T-cells in the cutaneous infiltrates of KS. This finding is indicative of a reactive polyclonal response of T-cells to the spindle-shaped cells and supports the contention that spindle-shaped cells are pathogenetically the central cell type in the disease. Our data also indicate that the anti-KS T-cell response, being polyclonal in nature, does not result from clonal expansion of T-cells targeting tumor-associated antigenic peptides.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Experimental Oncology, National Oncology Institute, Bari, Italy.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Alaibac
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Congedo
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Barbarossa
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bottiglieri
authors.forename: E D
authors.initials: ED
authors.lastname: Fillippi
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Marzullo
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Quarta
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Schittulli
mesh_terms: D015334:Gene Rearrangement, gamma-Chain T-Cell Antigen Receptor; D006801:Humans; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012514:Sarcoma, Kaposi / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*