Next-Generation Sequencing Analysis of the Human TCR??+ T-Cell Repertoire Reveals Shifts in V?- and V?-Usage in Memory Populations upon Aging.
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ABSTRACT: Immunological aging remodels the immune system at several levels. This has been documented in particular for the T-cell receptor (TCR)??+ T-cell compartment, showing reduced naive T-cell outputs and an accumulation of terminally differentiated clonally expanding effector T-cells, leading to increased proneness to autoimmunity and cancer development at older age. Even though TCR??+ and TCR??+ T-cells follow similar paths of development involving V(D)J-recombination of TCR genes in the thymus, TCR??+ T-cells tend to be more subjected to peripheral rather than central selection. However, the impact of aging in shaping of the peripheral TRG/TRD repertoire remains largely elusive. Next-generation sequencing analysis methods were optimized based on a spike-in method using plasmid vector DNA-samples for accurate TRG/TRD receptor diversity quantification, resulting in optimally defined primer concentrations, annealing temperatures and cycle numbers. Next, TRG/TRD repertoire diversity was evaluated during TCR??+ T-cell ontogeny, showing a broad, diverse repertoire in thymic and cord blood samples with Gaussian CDR3-length distributions, in contrast to the more skewed repertoire in mature circulating TCR??+ T-cells in adult peripheral blood. During aging the naive repertoire maintained its diversity with Gaussian CDR3-length distributions, while in the central and effector memory populations a clear shift from young (V?9/V?2 dominance) to elderly (V?2/V?1 dominance) was observed. Together with less clear Gaussian CDR3-length distributions, this would be highly suggestive of differentially heavily selected repertoires. Despite the apparent age-related shift from V?9/V?2 to V?2/V?1, no clear aging effect was observed on the V?2 invariant T nucleotide and canonical V?9-J?1.2 selection determinants. A more detailed look into the healthy TRG/TRD repertoire revealed known cytomegalovirus-specific TRG/TRD clonotypes in a few donors, albeit without a significant aging-effect, while Mycobacterium tuberculosis-specific clonotypes were absent. Notably, in effector subsets of elderly individuals, we could identify reported TRG and TRD receptor chains from TCR??+ T-cell large granular lymphocyte leukemia proliferations, which typically present in the elderly population. Collectively, our results point to relatively subtle age-related changes in the human TRG/TRD repertoire, with a clear shift in V?/V? usage in memory cells upon aging.
SUBMITTER: Kallemeijn MJ
PROVIDER: S-EPMC5845707 | biostudies-literature | 2018
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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