Figure 1
TCR repertoire usage in the immune response to huCollp263–271. PBMCs from patient OE were prepared as described in the Materials and methods section and cultured at 5 × 106 cells/ml in the presence or absence of 20 μg/ml huCollp263–271. Three days later cells were harvested and modified CDR3 β-chain spectratyping was performed, as described in Materials and methods. (a) Exemplificative BV-BJ CDR3 length spectra of T cells obtained for three rearrangements, in the absence and in the presence of antigenic peptide. The peaks interrupting the Gaussian distribution of CDR3 length (in an antigen-dependent or antigen-independent manner) are shaded in grey, and the RISs are shown. (b) Complete immunoscopy analysis of the immune response to huCollp263–271. Black squares indicate BV-BJ rearrangements, showing antigen-driven expansion (RSI ≥ 2) of one or more peaks. Rearrangement BV19-BJ2.5 exhibited an antigen-driven expansion of a peak of 99 bbases in length. In addition, expansion of two peaks of 96 and 105 bases in length was observed, with RSI 1.8. huCollp261–273, human collagen peptide 261–273; PBMC, peripheral blood mononuclear cell; RSI, rate stimulation index.