Analysis of T cell receptor-gene rearrangement in T cells from the cerebrospinal fluid of patients with multiple sclerosis.

Characterization of T cells present in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) may contribute to an understanding of the immunopathologic role of these cells. To analyze the T cells in the CSF of MS patients, 30 cloned T cell lines from each of two MS patients were surveyed for their patterns of T cell receptor (TcR) beta-chain gene rearrangement. DNA from the (CSF-derived) T cell clones was digested with a number of restriction endonucleases and the gene rearrangement patterns were analyzed with a T cell receptor beta-chain probe. Southern blot analysis of the DNA of these T cell clones indicated that all had rearrangements of the TcR beta-chain genes, but none of the rearrangements were identical. These results suggest that, if a few clones of specific T cells are involved, they must form a tiny minority in comparison to the total number of T cells in the CSF of MS patients.