title: Significance of antigen-specific T cell clones in collagen diseases: analyses with a novel T cell clonality evaluation system.
abstract: The involvement of antigen-specific T cells in the pathogenesis of collagen diseases is still controversial. The final stages of collagen diseases are usually characterized by the dominance of inflammation. Therefore, antigen non-specific factors, such as inflammatory cytokines, probably play an important role in this process. On the other hand, the methods available to analyze the antigen-specific aspects of the immune response are still limited. Here we review our novel system of T cell clonality analysis based on the idea that activated antigen-specific T cells should form accumulating clones among the lymphocyte population. Using this method, dynamic changes of clonal accumulation of T cells could be evaluated during antigenic stimulation in vivo and in vitro. The significance of antigen-specific T cell clones in collagen diseases is discussed using data obtained from patients with rheumatoid arthritis and systemic lupus erythematosus.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Immunology, Kyushu University, Oita.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yamamoto
mesh_terms: D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000276:immunology; D002999:Clone Cells / Q000276:immunology; D003095:Collagen Diseases / Q000276:immunology*; D000939:Epitopes / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D008180:Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic / Q000276:immunology; D011948:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell / Q000276:immunology*; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D000939:Epitopes; D011948:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell