Rearrangement of human T cell receptor β and γ chain genes in adult t cell leukemia/lymphoma

Abstract

We studied rearrangement of human T cell receptor genes (TCR) of C beta, C gamma, V gamma and J gamma in 34 cases of adult T cell leukemia/lymphoma (ATLL), consisting of 29 cases with monoclonally integrated HTLV-I proviral DNA (ATLL-W) and five without monoclonal integration (ATLL-O), in comparison with 12 cases of other peripheral T cell lymphomas (non-ATLL). All cases of both ATLL and non-ATLL showed some rearrangement of T cell receptor genes (TCRs) of C beta, C gamma, V gamma, or J gamma. Rearrangement of TCR beta was found in 28 of 29 cases of ATLL-W, all cases of ATLL-O, and eight of 12 cases of non-ATLL. Rearrangement of TCR gamma was observed in 21 of 22 cases of ATLL-W, and in all cases of ATLL-O and non-ATLL. In TCR gamma, rearrangement of C gamma was seen in six of 20 cases of ATLL-W, none of three ATLL-O cases and three of six cases of non-ATLL. V gamma rearrangement occurred in 14 of 18 cases of ATLL-W, one of two cases of ATLL-O, and three of six cases of non-ATLL. Rearrangement of J gamma was found in 16 of 22 cases of ATLL-W, two of five ATLL-O cases, and six of seven non-ATLL cases. Rearrangement was more frequent in ATLL-W than in ATLL-O and non-ATLL. The incidence rate of rearrangement of V gamma families of V gamma 1, V gamma 2, and V gamma 3 was nearly the same in each group, except for deletion of V gamma 3, which was often observed in ATLL but was absent in non-ATLL. These results indicate the usefulness of detection of TCR and HTLV-I proviral DNA to differentiate ATLL from other T cell malignancies.