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. 1999 Sep;58(9):546–553. doi: 10.1136/ard.58.9.546

Characterisation of T cell clonotypes that accumulated in multiple joints of patients with rheumatoid arthritis

M Kurokawa 1, T Kato 1, K Masuko-Hongo 1, S Ueda 1, T Kobata 1, M Okubo 1, T Nishimaki 1, T Akaza 1, S Yoshino 1, R Kasukawa 1, K Nishioka 1, K Yamamoto 1
PMCID: PMC1752942  PMID: 10460187

Abstract

OBJECTIVE—To investigate whether identical T cell clonotypes accumulate in multiple rheumatoid joints, the clonality of T cells that had infiltrated into synovial tissue (ST) samples simultaneously obtained from multiple joints of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) was analysed.
METHODS—T cell receptor (TCR) β gene transcripts, amplified by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction from ST and peripheral blood lymphocytes of five RA patients, were subjected to single strand conformation polymorphism analysis and DNA sequencing.
RESULTS—Approximately 40% of accumulated T cell clonotypes found in one joint of a patient were found in multiple joints in the same patient. Furthermore, identical amino acid sequences were found in TCR β junctional regions of these clonotypes from different patients with at least one HLA molecule match.
CONCLUSIONS—The T cell clonotypes accumulating in multiple rheumatoid joints may be involved in the perpetuation of polyarthritis by reacting to antigens common to these multiple joints.



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Figure 1  .

Figure 1  

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Comparison of accumulated TCR β gene clonotypes in different joints by RT-PCR/SSCP analysis. ST specimens were derived from four different joints of RA1 and two different joints of RA2-RA5, respectively. TCR β gene transcripts, amplified from each specimen by RT-PCR, were separated based on their single strand conformation polymorphism on a single gel to detect TCR β gene bands with identical migrating positions. Some of the distinct TCR β gene bands derived from different specimens were found to migrate to identical positions (indicated by asterisks). This indicates that T cells that possessed TCR β gene transcripts corresponding to these bands accumulated clonally in multiple joints. Results of representative three BV families (BV3, BV5S2 and BV14) are shown. Arrows indicate bands from which TCR β gene transcripts were recovered for determination of nucleotide sequences. The results of RA1 are shown as follows: (lane 1, PBLs; lane 2, ST from the left ankle; lane 3, ST from the right ankle; lane 4, ST from the left PIP; and lane 5, ST from the left elbow). The results of RA2-RA5 are shown as follows: RA2: lane 1, PBL; lane 2, ST from the right MP; lane 3, ST from the right knee. Similarly, RA3: lane 1, PBL; lane 2, ST from the right MP; lane 3, ST from the right elbow. RA4: lane 1, PBL; lane 2, ST from the right wrist; lane 3, ST from the left knee. RA5: lane 1, PBL; lane 2, ST from the right knee; lane 3, ST from the left knee.

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