International Immunology, Vol. 12, No. 6, 797-805,
June 2000
© 2000 Japanese Society for Immunology
High frequency of circulating 
T cells with dominance of the V1 subset in a healthy population
1 Centre for Medical Parasitology at Department of Infectious Diseases, Copenhagen University Hospital (Rigshospitalet) and Institute for Medical Microbiology and Immunology, University of Copenhagen, 2000 Copenhagen, Denmark
2 Immunology and Epidemiology Units, Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, University of Ghana, Legon, Ghana
3 Unité d'Immunologie Moléculaire des Parasites, CNRS URA 1960 and
4 Unité de Biologie Moleculaire du Gene, Institut Pastéur, 75724 Paris, France
Correspondence to: L. Hviid, Department of Infectious Diseases M7641, Rigshospitalet, Tagensvej 20, 2200 Copenhagen N, Denmark
TCR 
+ cells constitute <5% of all circulating T cells in healthy, adult Caucasians, and V1+ cells constitute a minority of these cells. In contrast to TCR 
ß+ cells, their repertoire is selected extrathymically by environmental antigens. Although increased frequencies of V1+ cells are found in several diseases, their function remains obscure. Here we show that the frequency of peripheral blood T cells in healthy West Africans is about twice that of Caucasians, mainly due to a 5-fold increase in V1+ cells, which is consequently the dominant subset. No age dependency of V1 frequencies was identified and the V1+ cells in the African donors did not show preferential V chain usage. Analysis of the CDR3 region size did not reveal any particular skewing of the V1 repertoire, although oligoclonality was more pronounced in adults compared to children. The proportions of CD8+, CD38+ and CD45RAhiCD45RO– cells within the V1+ subset were higher in the African than in the European donors, without obvious differences in expression of activation markers. No significant correlations between levels of V1+ cells and environmental antigens or immunological parameters were identified. Taken together, the evidence argues against a CDR3-restricted, antigen-driven expansion of V1+ cells in the African study population. Our study shows that high frequencies of TCR + cells with dominance of the V1+ subset can occur at the population level in healthy people, raising questions about the physiological role of V1+ T cells in the function and regulation of the immune system.
Keywords: age, CDR3, Epstein-Barr virus, , T cells, malaria, T cell repertoire, V1
Transmitting editor: S. Kaufmann
CiteULike 
Connotea 
Del.icio.us What's this?
This article has been cited by other articles:
|
|
 |
|
  V. Pitard, D. Roumanes, X. Lafarge, L. Couzi, I. Garrigue, M.-E. Lafon, P. Merville, J.-F. Moreau, and J. Dechanet-Merville Long-term expansion of effector/memory V{delta}2- {gamma}{delta} T cells is a specific blood signature of CMV infection Blood, August 15, 2008; 112(4): 1317 - 1324. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 G. R. Klimpel, M. A. Matthias, and J. M. Vinetz Leptospira interrogans Activation of Human Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells: Preferential Expansion of TCR{gamma}{delta}+ T Cells vs TCR{alpha}{beta}+ T Cells J. Immunol., August 1, 2003; 171(3): 1447 - 1455. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 L. Hviid, J. A. L. Kurtzhals, V. Adabayeri, S. Loizon, K. Kemp, B. Q. Goka, A. Lim, O. Mercereau-Puijalon, B. D. Akanmori, and C. Behr Perturbation and Proinflammatory Type Activation of V{delta}1+ {gamma}{delta} T Cells in African Children with Plasmodium falciparum Malaria Infect. Immun., May 1, 2001; 69(5): 3190 - 3196. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|