title: Polyclonal expansion of TCRBV2- and TCRBV6-bearing T cells in patients with Kawasaki disease.
abstract: We examined T-cell receptor (TCR) usage, cytokine production and antibody responses to superantigens in patients with Kawasaki disease (KD) to facilitate a better understanding of the immunopathogenesis of KD. The mean percentage of VB2- or VB6. 5-bearing T cells in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) of patients with acute-phase KD was significantly higher than that of patients in the convalescent phase of KD or in healthy donors. Expansion of VB2- or VB6.5-bearing T cells was polyclonal because DNA sequences in the complementarity determining region 3 of VB2- and VB6.5-positive cDNA clones were all different from each other. The plasma levels of interleukin (IL)-1beta, IL-2, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma), tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) and granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) were elevated in the acute phase of KD. We previously reported that streptococcal pyrogenic exotoxin C (SPEC) was a potent stimulator of VB2- and VB6.5-positive T cells and, furthermore, serum levels of anti-SPEC antibodies were significantly higher in patients with acute and convalescent KD than in age-matched controls. The results of the present study, together with those of our previous report, suggest that SPEC induces activation and polyclonal expansion of VB2- and VB6.5-positive T cells, and that SPEC-induced activation of T cells may lead to the pathogenesis of KD.
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology, Shionogi Institute for Medical Science, Shionogi & Co. Ltd, Osaka, Japan.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yoshioka
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Matsutani
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Iwagami
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Toyosaki-Maeda
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yutsudo
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tsuruta
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Suzuki
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Uemura
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Takeuchi
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Koike
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Suzuki
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001483:Base Sequence; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D022801:Complementarity Determining Regions; D016207:Cytokines / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D006684:HLA-DR Antigens / Q000032:analysis; D059811:HLA-DRB1 Chains; D006801:Humans; D007135:Immunoglobulin Variable Region / Q000276:immunology; D007137:Immunoglobulin alpha-Chains / Q000235:genetics; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009080:Mucocutaneous Lymph Node Syndrome / Q000276:immunology*; D016693:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, alpha-beta / Q000276:immunology*; D018089:Superantigens / Q000276:immunology; D016176:T-Lymphocyte Subsets / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D022801:Complementarity Determining Regions; D016207:Cytokines; D006684:HLA-DR Antigens; D059811:HLA-DRB1 Chains; D007135:Immunoglobulin Variable Region; D007137:Immunoglobulin alpha-Chains; D016693:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, alpha-beta; D018089:Superantigens