title: TCRB clonotypes are present in CD4+ T cell populations prepared directly from rheumatoid synovium.
abstract: The identification of clonal T cells at sites of inflammation is hampered by the large number of polyclonal T cells that nonspecifically accumulate. In this report, we combine the use of T cell sorting with spectratyping of the third complementarity determining region (CDR3) and direct sequence analysis to rapidly screen for and identify clonal expansions of T cells from synovial tissue specimens from patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Initially, we used a polymerase chain reaction specific for the variable region gene of the T cell receptor beta chain (TCRBV) to compare the TCRBV repertoire expressed by CD4+ T cells from the peripheral blood and synovium of five patients with long-standing RA. Each patient had several TCRBV genes that were amplified to a greater degree from synovium. Extensive sequence analysis (n > 170) showed that each patient contained junctional sequences that occurred more than once, implying the presence of T cell clones within the starting CD4+ T cell population. To assess a more straightforward approach to identifying clones, six additional patients were recruited and CD4+, TCRBV2+ synovial T cells were positively selected and analyzed by CDR3 spectratyping. Bands deviating from a normal distribution were excised from the gel and sequenced directly. Clones were detected in half of the patients. These data are consistent with the possibility of an antigen-driven T cell response in RA that remains present in the setting of advanced disease.
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Portland, OR 97207, USA.
authors.forename: M P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Davey
authors.forename: G A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Burgoine
authors.forename: C N
authors.initials: CN
authors.lastname: Woody
mesh_terms: D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology; D015496:CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D018414:CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D002999:Clone Cells; D015870:Gene Expression; D015333:Gene Rearrangement, beta-Chain T-Cell Antigen Receptor / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D016693:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, alpha-beta / Q000032:analysis* / Q000235:genetics; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D013583:Synovial Membrane / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D016693:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, alpha-beta