Quantifying Distribution of Flow Cytometric TCR-Vβ Usage with Economic Statistics.
Measuring changes of the T cell receptor (TCR) repertoire is important to many fields of medicine. Flow cytometry is a popular technique to study the TCR repertoire, as it quickly provides insight into the TCR-Vβ usage among well-defined populations of T cells. However, the interpretation of the flow cytometric data remains difficult, and subtle TCR repertoire changes may go undetected. Here, we introduce a novel means for analyzing the flow cytometric data on TCR-Vβ usage. By applying economic statistics, we calculated the Gini-TCR skewing index from the flow cytometric TCR-Vβ analysis. The Gini-TCR skewing index, which is a direct measure of TCR-Vβ distribution among T cells, allowed us to track subtle changes of the TCR repertoire among distinct populations of T cells. Application of the Gini-TCR skewing index to the flow cytometric TCR-Vβ analysis will greatly help to gain better understanding of the TCR repertoire in health and disease.
Department of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
Kornelis S M
KS
van der Geest
Department of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
Wayel H
WH
Abdulahad
Department of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
Gerda
G
Horst
Department of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
Pedro G
PG
Lorencetti
Department of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
Johan
J
Bijzet
Department of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
Suzanne
S
Arends
Department of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands; Center for Immunology of Infectious Diseases and Vaccines, National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, Bilthoven, The Netherlands.
Marieke
M
van der Heiden
Center for Immunology of Infectious Diseases and Vaccines, National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, Bilthoven, The Netherlands.
Anne-Marie
AM
Buisman
Department Laboratory Medicine, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
Bart-Jan
BJ
Kroesen
Department of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
Elisabeth
E
Brouwer
Department of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
Annemieke M H
AM
Boots
D015496:CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology; D018414:CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000276:immunology*; D005434:Flow Cytometry / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007114:Immunization; D016693:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, alpha-beta / Q000276:immunology* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D013602:T-Lymphocytes, Cytotoxic / Q000276:immunology*; D006377:T-Lymphocytes, Helper-Inducer / Q000276:immunology; D014611:Vaccination
D016693:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, alpha-beta