Objective: To investigate the clonal expansion of T cell receptor (TCR) Vbeta subfamily T cells from cord blood induced by bcr3-abl2 peptide in vitro.
Methods: T cells from 3 units of cord blood were amplified by anti-CD(3) monoclonal antibody (McAb) and IL-2 with or without synthetic b3a2 peptide. T cell specific cytotoxicity was analyzed by lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) assay, TCR Vbeta subfamilies by using reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and genescan technique.
Results: bcr3-abl2 peptide specific cytotoxicity T cells were successfully induced from the 3 units of cord blood by synthetic b3a2 peptide. Compared with that in CD(3) McAb induced cells, distribution pattern of TCR Vbeta repertoire was different in T cells induced with b3a2 peptide. Oligoclonal and oligoclonal tendency TCR Vbeta subfamily T cells could be identified in cord blood T cells induced by b3a2 peptide in 1 or 2 weeks, whereas those induced by anti-CD(3) McAb and IL-2 were mostly polyclonal.
Conclusion: The cytotoxicity T cells with anti-CML specificity could be induced by b3a2 peptide. The specific anti-CML cytotoxicity may be derived from the clonal expansion TCR Vbeta subfamily T cells.