title: Peripheral CD25 positive T lymphocytes with biased T cell receptor Vbeta gene usage in autoimmune endogenous posterior uveitis.
abstract: Aims-To determine T cell receptor (TCR) Vbeta gene usage in peripheral blood T lymphocytes of patients with endogenous posterior uveitis (EPU). If biased TCR variable (V) gene usage occurs in this autoimmune disease, it should be detectable in immune activated peripheral blood T cells in vivo.Methods-Relative proportions of each Vbeta gene family expressed in total peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) and in vivo activated (CD25+) T cells from patients with EPU and controls were determined using the anchored polymerase chain reaction (anchored PCR) in conjunction with a novel hybridisation assay. The TCR Vbeta repertoires seen in these cell populations were then compared.Results-Vbeta1 usage within the CD25+ lymphocytes of patients with EPU was substantially elevated (mean +/- SD 15 +/-9%) compared with control CD25+ cells (3.3 +/-2.4%).Conclusions-By contrasting the repertoires of these cell populations, biased TCR Vbeta gene usage was detected in patients with EPU, namely increased usage of Vbeta1 in CD25+ T cells from peripheral blood of these patients. This approach of directly analysing the activated T cells in blood, using bulk PBL as an internal control, has wide applicability where specific T cell subpopulations are thought to play an important aetiopathological role.
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, University Hospital Medical School, Nottingham NG7 2UH.
authors.forename: P J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Tighe
authors.forename: J V
authors.initials: JV
authors.lastname: Forrester
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liversidge
authors.forename: H F
authors.initials: HF
authors.lastname: Sewell