Biased T cell receptor Vα region repertoire in the synovial fluid of rheumatoid arthritis patients

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Abstract
Synovial T lymphocytes seem to contribute to the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Since very little is known about the structural heterogeneity of their T cell antigen receptors (TcR), we analyzed TcR α chain mRNA of synovial fluid T cells from two RA patients. TcR α chain cDNA was amplified by the polymerase chain reaction with single‐sided specificity for the α chain constant (Cα) gene segment, and the nucleotide sequences of 51 functionally rearranged cDNA clones were determined. Twenty different Vα genes and 26 different Jα gene segments were utilized in these cDNA clones. Three of the Vα gene segments which are frequently (8%‐17% total) expressed in synovial fluid T cells have rarely been found in the TcR repertoire of peripheral blood T cells from healthy individuals. The T cell responses in the rheumatic synovia analyzed here are not oligoclonal, but the usage of TcR Vα genes is biased.