[Complementarity-determining region 3 analysis of T cell receptor beta chain variable region in peripheral blood mononuclear cells of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus].

OBJECTIVE

To analyze the drift of the complementarity-determining region 3 (CDR3) of T cell receptor (TCR) beta chain variable region (TCR BV) in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus.

METHODS

Immunoscope spectratyping techniques was used to analyze the distribution of TCRbeta chain CDR3 in 5 normal blood donors and the dominant CDR3 in the PBMCs in 5 SLE patients. Sequence analysis of the CDR3 region in monoclonal or oligoclonal T cells was performed.

RESULTS

The spectratypes of TCR BV gene CDR3 region showed Gaussian distribution in the 5 normal blood donors. The 5 SLE patients, however, displayed anomalous proliferation and oligoclonal expansion of the T cells was observed in different TCR BV families with different CDR3 sequences.

CONCLUSION

Noticeable drift of TCRbeta chain CDR3 can be seen in active SLE, indicating possible association of selective expression of TCR with immune pathogenesis in SLE. Determination of specific TCR CDR3 sequence provides a new means for studying the pathogenesis and personalized treatment of SLE.