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. 1995 Sep;101(3):408–413. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2249.1995.tb03127.x

T cell lines recognizing the 70-kD protein of U1 small nuclear ribonucleoprotein (U1snRNP).

S Fenning 1, G Wolff-Vorbeck 1, W Hackl 1, U Krawinkel 1, R Lührmann 1, W Northemann 1, H H Peter 1, M Schlesier 1
PMCID: PMC1553240  PMID: 7664486

Abstract

In sera of patients with mixed connective tissue disease (MCTD) high titres of IgG autoantibodies to U1snRNP-specific proteins (70 kD, A, C) are found, suggesting an antigen-driven and T-cell-dependent process. In order to establish U1snRNP-specific T cell lines we cultured under various culture conditions mononuclear cells from MCTD patients and healthy donors with a highly purified UsnRNP preparation from HeLa cells. Nine T cell lines were established by limiting dilution cloning from two MCTD patients and five T cell lines from a healthy individual. All T cell lines expressed the TCR alpha beta/CD3 complex. Surprisingly, most of the T cells lines exhibited the CD8 phenotype. Irrespective of this phenotype, all T cell lines showed a proliferative response to an N-terminal part (aa 51-195) of recombinant U1-specific 70-kD protein. One CD8+ T cell clone exhibited cytotoxic activity against an autologous B cell line pulsed with snRNP or recombinant fragments (aa 51-95 and aa 51-88). Interestingly, two T cell lines proliferated in response to four recombinant polypeptides representing different parts of the U1snRNP 70-kD protein. Since regions of sequence homology are distributed over the 70-kD molecule, it is suggested that conserved motifs may be recognized by the T cell lines.

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Selected References

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