BACKGROUND: The clonotypic 90 kd Ti heterodimer of the human T-cell antigen receptor is composed of two distinct chains (alpha beta or rarely tau delta) that result from the recombination of variable (V), constant, joining, and, in the case of beta chains, additional diversity regions. OBJECTIVE: The variable region expression of human cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL) was studied. METHODS: Biopsy specimens from 13 patients with CTCL (7 plaque, 3 tumor stage, 3 Sézary syndrome) were examined immunohistochemically by a panel of seven commercially available monoclonal V-region antibodies. RESULTS: Two patients had significant anti-V-region staining. One patient with Sézary syndrome had two lesions, subjected to biopsy 4 months apart, that reacted with beta V5(a), a specificity previously documented by flow cytometry of leukemic cells. A patient with plaque-stage CTCL, negative for T-cell gene rearrangement by Southern blot, demonstrated reactivity with beta V5(c) largely limited to epidermotropic lymphocytes. CONCLUSION: Panels of V-region antibodies should be useful reagents for diagnosis and follow-up of CTCL.
BACKGROUND: The clonotypic 90 kd Ti heterodimer of the human T-cell antigen receptor is composed of two distinct chains (alpha beta or rarely tau delta) that result from the recombination of variable (V), constant, joining, and, in the case of beta chains, additional diversity regions. OBJECTIVE: The variable region expression of humancutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL) was studied. METHODS: Biopsy specimens from 13 patients with CTCL (7 plaque, 3 tumor stage, 3 Sézary syndrome) were examined immunohistochemically by a panel of seven commercially available monoclonal V-region antibodies. RESULTS: Two patients had significant anti-V-region staining. One patient with Sézary syndrome had two lesions, subjected to biopsy 4 months apart, that reacted with beta V5(a), a specificity previously documented by flow cytometry of leukemic cells. A patient with plaque-stage CTCL, negative for T-cell gene rearrangement by Southern blot, demonstrated reactivity with beta V5(c) largely limited to epidermotropic lymphocytes. CONCLUSION: Panels of V-region antibodies should be useful reagents for diagnosis and follow-up of CTCL.
Authors: S N Dommann; C C Dommann-Scherrer; M T Dours-Zimmermann; D R Zimmermann; B Kural-Serbes; G Burg Journal: Arch Dermatol Res Date: 1996-04 Impact factor: 3.017