T cell receptor usage by HLA-DQw8-specific T cell clones.

To investigate whether T cells recognizing the same HLA molecule may demonstrate homology in parts of their TCR, five different HLA-DQw8-specific T lymphocyte clones (TLC) were studied. The TCR alpha and -beta genes of four alloreactive, HLA-DQw8-specific and one antigen-specific TLC were sequenced. All TLC used different V alpha and V beta genes. However, four of the TLC shared a certain CDR1 beta motif and all five used either J beta 2.3 or -2.5. In addition, two used the same J alpha. The results indicate a possible preferential usage of certain TCR structures by T cells specific for DQw8.