Viney J L, Dianda L, Roberts S J, Wen L, Mallick C A, Hayday A C, Owen M J
Imperial Cancer Research Fund, London, United Kingdom.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1994 Dec 6;91(25):11948-52. doi: 10.1073/pnas.91.25.11948.
In mice and humans, T cells are characterized on the basis of T-cell receptor (TcR) expression and divided into the major TcR alpha beta + and minor TcR gamma delta + populations. TcR alpha beta + cells are considered to be the primary regulators of the immune response, whereas the function of TcR gamma delta + cells is unclear. Mice congenitally deficient in TcR alpha beta-expressing cells provide an ideal model for analyzing the independent in vivo function of TcR gamma delta + cells in the absence of TcR alpha beta + cells. Here we report that lymphoid organs in TcR alpha mutant mice undergo substantial enlargement after being challenged by environmental antigens. This organ expansion can be attributed in part to increases in the relative proportions and absolute numbers of TcR gamma delta + cells, but an expansion of the recently described TcR beta + alpha - population also has a role. The expansion of the TcR gamma delta + population is polyclonal, as evidenced by the usage of multiple gamma and delta variable chain segments. Furthermore, a substantial proportion of the cells appears to be activated and these activated cells express surface activation markers. The results clearly demonstrate that TcR gamma delta + cells proliferate independently in response to a broad spectrum of challenges. Moreover, since the expansion of the lymphoid tissues and the TcR gamma delta + cell population is excessive relative to that seen in wild-type animals, one role of TcR alpha beta + cells is directly or indirectly to limit the responses of the other lymphoid components.
在小鼠和人类中，T细胞是根据T细胞受体（TcR）的表达来进行分类的，并被分为主要的TcRαβ⁺群体和次要的TcRγδ⁺群体。TcRαβ⁺细胞被认为是免疫反应的主要调节因子，而TcRγδ⁺细胞的功能尚不清楚。先天性缺乏表达TcRαβ的细胞的小鼠为分析在没有TcRαβ⁺细胞的情况下TcRγδ⁺细胞独立的体内功能提供了一个理想的模型。在此我们报告，TcRα突变小鼠的淋巴器官在受到环境抗原刺激后会出现显著肿大。这种器官肿大部分可归因于TcRγδ⁺细胞相对比例和绝对数量的增加，但最近描述的TcRβ⁺α⁻群体的扩大也起了作用。TcRγδ⁺群体的扩大是多克隆性的，这可通过多种γ和δ可变链节的使用得到证明。此外，相当一部分细胞似乎被激活了，并且这些被激活的细胞表达表面激活标志物。结果清楚地表明，TcRγδ⁺细胞能独立增殖以应对广泛的刺激。而且，由于相对于野生型动物而言，淋巴组织和TcRγδ⁺细胞群体的扩大是过度的，所以TcRαβ⁺细胞的一个作用是直接或间接地限制其他淋巴成分的反应。
