Variable-region sequences for T-cell receptor-γ and -δ chains of rabbit killer cell lines against Shope carcinoma cells

Abstract

A rabbit γδ killer T-cell line against Shope carcinoma cells was established from peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) of a human T-lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I)-infected rabbit bearing Shope papilloma and carcinoma. Southern hybridization analysis of this cell line with an HTLV-I probe showed that the cell line contained multiple clones of HTLV-I-transformed cells, and three sublines with different integration patterns of the HTLV-1 genome were isolated by cloning of the cell line. In all these sublines T-cell receptor (TCR)-γ and -δ genes were rearranged and expressed. A PCR-based analysis of the expression of variable (V) genes showed that the killer cell line preferentially expressed Vγ1.1 and Vδ1 genes, whereas Vγ2 and Vδ1 genes were dominantly expressed in normal PBL. Analysis of the junctional sequences of TCR-γ and -δ genes which dictate the fine specificities of epitope recognition revealed that all three sublines expressed Vγ1.1/Vδ1 genes without the nucleotide diversity at the V-J junctions.