| First Author | Corthay A | Year | 2001 |
| Journal | J Autoimmun | Volume | 16 |
| Issue | 4 | Pages | 423-9 |
| PubMed ID | 11437490 | Mgi Jnum | J:70152 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:2136511 | Doi | 10.1006/jaut.2001.0504 |
| Citation | Corthay A, et al. (2001) Evaluation of the Percentage of Peripheral T Cells with Two Different T Cell Receptor alpha-Chains and of their Potential Role in Autoimmunity. J Autoimmun 16(4):423-9 |
| abstractText | Approximately 25% of mature T cells possess two distinct cytoplasmic T cell receptor (TCR) alpha-chains, due to productive gene rearrangements of both alleles. Expression of two different alpha-chains at the cell surface is a potential risk factor for development of autoimmunity. However, it has been difficult to determine the frequency of peripheral T cells with two different alpha-chains at the surface. Our new approach is based on comparing by flow cytometry the percentage of cells that express a given Valpha-chain between wild-type mice and mice that are hemizygous for a disrupted Tcra locus (Tcra+/-) and consequently unable to express two rearranged Tcra genes. We consistently found that approximately 8% of total peripheral T cells express two surface alpha-chains. The importance of dual alpha-T cells in autoimmunity was examined in a mouse model for rheumatoid arthritis, namely collagen-induced arthritis (CIA). No significant difference was observed between Tcra+/- mice and wild-type littermates, considering arthritis incidence, day of disease onset, and maximum arthritic score. We therefore conclude that there is incomplete phenotypic allelic exclusion in TCRalpha, and that the presence of a significant number of potentially multireactive T cells does not increase the susceptibility to develop autoimmune arthritis. Copyright 2001 Academic Press. |
