Conserved T cell receptor complementarity-determining region 3 of ocular T cells in mice with experimental autoimmune uveoretinitis.
OBJECTIVE
To characterize T cells infiltrating into the ocular tissues of mice with experimental autoimmune uveoretinitis (EAU) immunized with interphotoreceptor retinoid-binding protein (IRBP).


METHODS
The T cell receptor (TCR) repertoire on T cells obtained from ocular lesions of EAU mice was analyzed by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction. The clonotype of the T cells was examined by the single-strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) method, followed by sequence analysis of the TCR beta-chain complementarity-determining region 3 (CDR3).


RESULTS
The repertoire of the TCR BV gene in T cells from inflamed lesions was heterogeneous. SSCP analysis showed accumulation of multiple T cells specifically in ocular tissues of EAU mice, suggesting that these cells were expanded by an antigen-driven stimulation. Junctional sequence analysis demonstrated the presence of highly conserved amino acid sequence motifs (AGTGG, AGD) in CDR3 of BV2-positive T cells.


CONCLUSIONS
Our findings suggest that T cells infiltrating into ocular lesions of EAU mice recognize restricted T cell epitopes of IRBP, resulting in autoimmune uveoretinitis.
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence / Q000235:genetics; D000818:Animals; D001327:Autoimmune Diseases / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D002460:Cell Line; D017124:Conserved Sequence / Q000235:genetics; D005123:Eye / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D007135:Immunoglobulin Variable Region / Q000235:genetics*; D051379:Mice; D008815:Mice, Inbred Strains; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016693:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, alpha-beta / Q000235:genetics*; D012173:Retinitis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000502:physiology*; D014605:Uveitis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology