RELATIONSHIPS AMONG EXPRESSION, TRANSCRIPTION AND REARRANGEMENT OF T-CELL RECEPTOR BETA-GENE IN T-CELL LYMPHOMAS

The expression of T-cell receptors (TCR) in malignant lymphomas was examined immunohistochemically by monoclonal antibodies which react with the TCR Β or TCR δ chain. TCR Β was expressed in 16 out of 47 non-Hodgkin's lymphomas. These included 15 T-cell lymphomas and 1 Ki-1 lymphoma. The anti-TCR Β chain antibody, ΒF1, did not react with 26 B-cell lymphomas, 1 Ki-1 lymphoma or 6 Hodgkin's disease. The anti-TCR δ chain antibody, TCR δ1, did not react with any type of malignant lymphoma. Although TCR Β and CD3 were co-expressed in normal lymphoid tissues and most T-cell lymphomas, 3 cases of CD3+CD4+ CD8-T-cell lymphoma failed to express TCR0. TCR Β and Ig JH gene configurations in malignant lymphomas were examined by Southern hybridization. Although each of 9 T-cell lymphomas had a rearranged TCR Β locus, TCR Β gene rearrangement in the 3 cases of ΒF1-CD3+T-cell lymphomas was demonstrated by Southern blot. No transcripts of the TCR Β gene could be found in 2 out of the 3 ΒF1-CD3+T-cell lymphomas by Northern blot, indicating the lack of TCR Β protein expression to be due to non-transcription of the TCR gene. Loss of TCR Β proteins in these T-cell lymphomas is thus quite likely to be associated with T-cell tumour activation and progression, since 3 ΒF1-CD3+T-cell lymphomas expressed CD25 (interleukin-2 receptor) to a high degree. © 1990 Springer-Verlag.