title: Conserved CDR3 regions in T-cell receptor (TCR) CD8(+) T cells that recognize the Tax11-19/HLA-A*0201 complex in a subject infected with human T-cell leukemia virus type 1: relationship of T-cell fine specificity and major histocompatibility complex/peptide/TCR crystal structure.
abstract: We investigated the T-cell receptor (TCR) repertoire of CD8(+) T cells that recognize the Tax11-19 immunodominant epitope of Tax protein expressed by human T-cell leukemia virus (HTLV-1) that is implicated in the disease HTLV-1-associated myelopathy (HAM/TSP). A panel of Tax11-19-reactive CD8(+) T-cell clones was generated by single-cell cloning of Tax11-19/HLA-A*0201 tetramer-positive peripheral blood lymphocytes from an HTLV-1-infected individual. The analyses of TCR usage revealed that the combination of diverse TCR alpha and beta chains could be used for the recognition of Tax11-19 but the major population of T-cell clones (15 of 24 clones) expressed the TCR V beta 13S1 and V alpha 17 chain. We found striking similarities in CDR3 regions of TCR alpha and beta chains between our major group of CD8(+) T-cell clones and those originating from different subjects as previously reported, including TCRs with resolved crystal structures. A 3-amino-acid sequence (PG-G) in the CDR3 region of the V beta chain was conserved among all the Tax11-19-reactive T-cell clones expressing V beta 13S1 and V alpha 17 chains. Conserved amino acids in the CDR3 region do not directly contact the Tax11-19 peptide, as corroborated by the crystal structure of B7-TCR, a TCR that is almost identical to VB13S1 clones isolated in this study. Analysis of fine peptide specificity using altered peptide ligands (APL) of Tax11-19 revealed a similar recognition pattern among this panel of T-cell clones. These data suggest that the PG-G amino acids in the CDR3 beta loop provide a structural framework necessary for the maintenance of the tertiary TCR structure.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Molecular Immunology, Center for Neurological Diseases, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA. kbourcier@rics.bwh.harvard.edu
authors.forename: K D
authors.initials: KD
authors.lastname: Bourcier
authors.forename: D G
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: Lim
authors.forename: Y H
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Ding
authors.forename: K J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Wucherpfennig
authors.forename: D A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Hafler
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D018414:CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D002999:Clone Cells; D022801:Complementarity Determining Regions / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology*; D016356:Gene Products, tax / Q000276:immunology*; D015234:HLA-A Antigens / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D015490:HTLV-I Infections / Q000276:immunology*; D015368:Human T-lymphotropic virus 1 / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D008024:Ligands; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D011948:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D016693:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, alpha-beta / Q000235:genetics; D016415:Sequence Alignment
chemical_list: D022801:Complementarity Determining Regions; D016356:Gene Products, tax; D015234:HLA-A Antigens; D008024:Ligands; D011948:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell; D016693:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, alpha-beta