title: Distinct and non-overlapping T cell receptor repertoires expanded by DNA vaccination in wild-type and HER-2 transgenic BALB/c mice.
abstract: Central tolerance to tumor-associated Ags is an immune-escape mechanism that significantly limits the TCR repertoires available for tumor eradication. The repertoires expanded in wild-type BALB/c and rat-HER-2/neu (rHER-2) transgenic BALB-neuT mice following DNA immunization against rHER-2 were compared by spectratyping the variable (V)beta and the joining (J)beta CDR 3. Following immunization, BALB/c mice raised a strong response. Every mouse used one or more CD8+ T cell rearrangements of the Vbeta9-Jbeta1.2 segments characterized by distinct length of the CDR3 and specific for 63-71 or 1206-1214 rHER-2 peptides. In addition, two CD4+ T cell rearrangements recurred in >50% of mice. Instead, BALB-neuT mice displayed a limited response to rHER-2. Their repertoire is smaller and uses different rearrangements confined to CD4+ T cells. Thus, central tolerance in BALB-neuT mice acts by silencing the BALB/c mice self-reactive repertoire and reducing the size of the CD8+ T cell component. CD8+ and CD4+ T cells from both wild-type and transgenic mice home to tumors. This definition of the T cell repertoires available is critical to the designing of immunological maneuvers able to elicit an effective immune reaction against HER-2-driven carcinogenesis.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze Cliniche e Biologiche, University of Turin, Turin, Italy.
authors.forename: Simona
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rolla
authors.forename: Chiara
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Nicoló
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Malinarich
authors.forename: Massimiliano
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Orsini
authors.forename: Guido
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Forni
authors.forename: Federica
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Cavallo
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ria
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D000951:Antigens, Neoplasm / Q000276:immunology; D015496:CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology; D018414:CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology; D005260:Female; D015333:Gene Rearrangement, beta-Chain T-Cell Antigen Receptor; D019674:Genes, T-Cell Receptor beta; D007108:Immune Tolerance; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000032:analysis; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases / Q000276:immunology*; D011948:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell / Q000276:immunology*; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000276:immunology; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D014162:Transfection; D019139:Tumor Escape; D019444:Vaccines, DNA
chemical_list: D000951:Antigens, Neoplasm; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases; D011948:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D019444:Vaccines, DNA