title: Longitudinal analysis of the T-cell receptor (TCR)-VA and -VB repertoire in CD8+ T cells from individuals immunized with recombinant hepatitis B surface antigen.
abstract: Recent studies have suggested that vaccination induces alterations in the T cell receptor (TCR) repertoire. We investigate the diversity of the TCR repertoire after immunization with a recombinant hepatitis B surface vaccine in seven healthy subjects in CD8+ T cells in peripheral blood lymphocytes. Cellular immune responses were monitored over time by sorting CD8 T cells followed by TCR-VA and -VB complementarity determining region 3 (CDR3) analysis. Frequency of individual VB families was determined by flow cytometry. TCR-VA/VB repertoires obtained from CD8+ T cells drawn after vaccination were compared to the TCR repertoire determined prior to vaccination. Monoclonal TCR transcripts could be detected exclusively in CD8+, but not in CD4+ T cells. Such monoclonal TCR transcripts were either stable in some individuals, or could only be detected at certain time points after vaccination. Sorting of monoclonal TCR-VB3+ T cells, which constituted up to 5% of the CD8+ T cell population from one individual, revealed that this T cell clone recognizes an epitope provided by the recombinant hepatitis B vaccine presented by MHC-class I on autologous antigen-presenting cells. Examination of the structural anatomy, defined by the TCR, and the frequency of T cells responding to the immunizing antigen may be helpful to provide surrogate markers to monitor cellular immune responses induced by protein antigens utilized for vaccination.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Microbiology, University of Mainz, FRG.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Höhn
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Neukirch
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Freitag
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Necker
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Hitzler
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Seliger
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Maeurer
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D000918:Antibody Specificity; D001483:Base Sequence; D018414:CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D022801:Complementarity Determining Regions; D018076:DNA, Complementary / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D015332:Gene Rearrangement, alpha-Chain T-Cell Antigen Receptor; D015333:Gene Rearrangement, beta-Chain T-Cell Antigen Receptor; D017325:Hepatitis B Vaccines / Q000276:immunology / Q000494:pharmacology*; D006801:Humans; D007111:Immunity, Cellular; D007114:Immunization; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016693:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, alpha-beta / Q000378:metabolism*; D014614:Vaccines, Synthetic / Q000276:immunology / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D022801:Complementarity Determining Regions; D018076:DNA, Complementary; C075654:Engerix-B; D017325:Hepatitis B Vaccines; D016693:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, alpha-beta; D014614:Vaccines, Synthetic