Flug F, Pelicci P G, Bonetti F, Knowles D M, Dalla-Favera R
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1985 May;82(10):3460-4. doi: 10.1073/pnas.82.10.3460.
Ig gene rearrangements represent markers of lineage, clonality, and differentiation of B cells, allowing a molecular diagnosis and immunogenotypic classification of B-cell neoplasms. We sought to apply a similar approach to the study of T-cell populations by analyzing rearrangements of the T-cell receptor beta-chain (T beta) gene. Our analysis, by Southern blotting hybridization using T beta-specific probes of DNAs from polyclonal T cells and from 12 T-cell tumors, indicates that T beta gene rearrangement patterns can be used as markers of (i) lineage, allowing the identification of polyclonal T-cell populations, and (ii) clonality, allowing the detection of monoclonal T-cell tumors. In addition, our data indicate that T beta gene rearrangements represent early and general markers of T-cell differentiation since they are detectable in histologically different tumors at all stages of T-cell development. The ability to determine lineage, clonality, and stage of differentiation has significant implications for future experimental and clinical studies on normal and neoplastic T cells.
免疫球蛋白（Ig）基因重排是B细胞谱系、克隆性及分化的标志物，可用于B细胞肿瘤的分子诊断和免疫基因型分类。我们试图通过分析T细胞受体β链（Tβ）基因重排，将类似方法应用于T细胞群体的研究。我们采用Southern印迹杂交法，用Tβ特异性探针分析来自多克隆T细胞及12例T细胞肿瘤的DNA，结果表明，Tβ基因重排模式可用作以下标志物：（i）谱系，可用于鉴定多克隆T细胞群体；（ii）克隆性，可用于检测单克隆T细胞肿瘤。此外，我们的数据表明，Tβ基因重排是T细胞分化的早期通用标志物，因为在T细胞发育的各个阶段，在组织学不同的肿瘤中均可检测到。确定谱系、克隆性及分化阶段的能力，对未来关于正常和肿瘤性T细胞的实验及临床研究具有重要意义。
