Single-cell PCR analysis of T helper cells in human lymph node germinal centers.

ABSTRACT: The T helper cell population of human lymph node germinal centers (GCs) was analyzed for clonality and signs of antigen selection. Frozen sections of lymph node biopsies taken from three different individuals were used to micromanipulate single T cells from one particular GC for each of the specimens. T cell receptor (TCR) beta gene rearrangements were amplified from these single cells and directly sequenced. Although only unique rearrangements were amplified from T cells of GC2 and GC3, 11 of 28 potentially functional rearrangements amplified from GC1 originated from four different clones. In all three GCs, TCR gene rearrangements neither showed obvious biases in gene segment usage nor similarities in complementarity determining region 3 amino acid sequence. Thus, it appears that T lympho

SUBMITTER: Roers A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1876856 | biostudies-literature | 2000 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature