title: Control of TCR V alpha-mediated positive repertoire selection and alloreactivity by differential J alpha usage and CDR3 alpha composition.
abstract: In rats expressing the f allele of the rat MHC (RT1f), CD8 T cells utilizing the V alpha 8.2 segment are 10-fold overselected during thymic development, resulting in V alpha 8.2 expression by 14% of mature CD8 T cells as compared to 1-2% in MHC congenic strains. In the alloreactive responses of CD8 T cells from RT1f-negative rats against RT1f, V alpha 8.2+ CD8 T cells are also preferentially expanded. Neither overselection nor alloreactivity of V alpha 8.2+ TCR require selective V beta pairing. However, RT1f alloreactive V alpha 8.2+ TCR preferentially use a related set of J alpha segments which contribute short homogeneous CDR3 alpha loops, with features suggesting peptide promiscuity, and little N additions. In contrast, only few overselected V alpha 8.2+ CD8 T cells showed an imprint of positive selection on J usage or CDR3 composition. The results demonstrate that a single V alpha segment can promote both MHC allele-specific positive selection and alloreactivity, and that the latter is more dependent on an additional contribution of CDR3 alpha, possibly by promoting reactivity with a diverse set of MHC-bound peptides or by providing additional MHC contacts.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Virology and Immunobiology, University of Würzburg, Germany.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Torres-Nagel
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Deutschländer
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Herrmann
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Arden
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hünig
mesh_terms: D000483:Alleles; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D018414:CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D017931:DNA Primers / Q000235:genetics; D018076:DNA, Complementary / Q000235:genetics; D007135:Immunoglobulin Variable Region; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D007519:Isoantigens; D008285:Major Histocompatibility Complex; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D051381:Rats; D011917:Rats, Inbred Lew; D016693:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, alpha-beta / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers; D018076:DNA, Complementary; D007135:Immunoglobulin Variable Region; D007519:Isoantigens; D016693:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, alpha-beta