Maleckar J R, Sherman L A
J Immunol. 1987 Jun 1;138(11):3873-6.
Previous results from several laboratories have demonstrated the presence of functional T lymphocytes in congenitally athymic (nude) mice. The present study represents an analysis of the T cell receptor repertoire exhibited by such cells. Clones of H-2Kb-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) were generated under primary limiting dilution conditions by using spleen cells from nude mice. These clones were analyzed on a panel of Kb mutant target cells to assess the receptor specificity of each clone. Unlike thymic bearing mice the CTL repertoires of which are exceedingly diverse, it was found that in most cases the vast majority of clones from each individual exhibited the same reactivity pattern. The particular pattern varied from individual to individual. Clones from three animals that exhibited this phenomenon were additionally analyzed by using a monoclonal antibody that can detect the utilization of the gene products of the V beta 8 family. In one animal all clones were V beta 8 positive, whereas in the others, all clones were negative. We conclude that the T cell receptor repertoire in nude mice is extremely limited and represents in vivo expansion of a relatively small number of functional precursors.
几个实验室先前的结果表明，先天性无胸腺（裸）小鼠体内存在功能性T淋巴细胞。本研究对这类细胞所展示的T细胞受体库进行了分析。通过使用裸鼠的脾细胞，在初级有限稀释条件下产生了H-2Kb特异性细胞毒性T淋巴细胞（CTL）克隆。在一组Kb突变靶细胞上对这些克隆进行分析，以评估每个克隆的受体特异性。与胸腺正常的小鼠不同，胸腺正常小鼠的CTL库极其多样，研究发现，在大多数情况下，来自每个个体的绝大多数克隆表现出相同的反应模式。具体模式因个体而异。使用一种能检测Vβ8家族基因产物利用情况的单克隆抗体，对表现出这种现象的三只动物的克隆进行了额外分析。在一只动物中，所有克隆均为Vβ8阳性，而在其他动物中，所有克隆均为阴性。我们得出结论，裸鼠中的T细胞受体库极其有限，代表了相对少量功能性前体的体内扩增。
