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Molecular heterogeneity of a Graves’ thyroid-infiltrating T cell population rich in CD8+ and γδ+ T cells

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Abstract

We report here on the isolation and repertoire characterization of a Graves’ thyroid T cell population which, unlike most Graves’ thyroid T cell isolates reported before, was rich in CD4-CD8-T cells (16%, all TcRγδ+) and CD8+ T cells (75%) [TcRαβ+ (59%) and TcRγδ+ (16%)]. Only 7% of the isolated T cells were CD4+. By contrast, <2% of peripheral blood mononuclear cells from the same patient were γδ+ and <14% were CD8+. Sequence analysis of 18 TcRδ cDNAs prepared from these cells indicated the presence of at least 17 different γδ+ T cell clonotypes with molecularly heterogeneous antigen-binding site sequences. As opposed to most peripheral blood γδ+ T cells (express Vδ2 TcRs), 13 of the 17 different TcRδ clonotypes used a Vδ1 gene, although PCR amplification of TcRγ- and TcRδ-specific cDNAs with Vδ- and Vγ-gene family-specific oligonucleotides confirmed usage of all 4 Vγ and all 6 Vδ families. Sequence analysis of 21 TcRα cDNAs from a TcRα-specific cDNA library indicated the presence of at least 12 different clonotypes, using 8 different Vα gene families and heterogeneous antigen-binding site sequences. These results are in contrast with the selective Vα gene usage reported for other intrathyroidal T cell subpopulations in autoimmune thyroid disease.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Department of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, University of Calgary, 3330 Hospital Drive N.W., Calgary, Alberta, Canada, T2N 4N1

    P. Santamaria, C. Lewis & J. J. Barbosa

  2. Institute of Human Genetics, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA

    P. Santamaria

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  1. P. Santamaria
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  2. C. Lewis
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  3. J. J. Barbosa
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Santamaria, P., Lewis, C. & Barbosa, J.J. Molecular heterogeneity of a Graves’ thyroid-infiltrating T cell population rich in CD8+ and γδ+ T cells. J Endocrinol Invest 16, 913–920 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03348958

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