Limited T cell antigen receptor repertoire in tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte and inhibition of experimental lung metastasis of murine melanoma by anti-TCR antibody.

We analyzed the variability of T cell Ag receptor in tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes in primary and metastatic melanomas. Using a very sensitive inverse/double step PCR, we found the preferential V alpha usage of TCR in tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes in which some TCR sequences were homogenous. However, the profile of TCR V alpha expression was different in primary and metastatic melanomas. V alpha 8+, V alpha 2+, V alpha 4+, and V alpha 3+ TCR were the most dominant repertoires in primary melanoma, whereas V alpha 3+ and V alpha 4+ TCR dominated metastatic melanoma. Depletion of V alpha 3 T cells by the injection of tumor-bearing mice with anti-V alpha 3 Ab resulted in protection against experimental lung metastasis, indicating that V alpha 3+ regulatory T cells exist in the tumor site and help metastatic tumor growth.