T-cell receptor Vβ-family usage in primary cutaneous and primary nodal T-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphomas

To evaluate whether the expression of T-cell receptor (TCR) Vβ families in eight cases of malignant T-cell lymphomas took place in a preferential manner, we analyzed four cases of mycosis fungoides (MF), the most common form of primary cutaneous T-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphomas (NHL), and four cases of primary nodal T-cell NHL. The usage of Vβ families in T-cell populations was investigated on mRNA that was transcribed to cDNA using a Cβ primer and reverse transcriptase. Subsequently, the specific usage of the families was analyzed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using combinations of the selected Cβ-oligonucleotide primer and one of the family-specific Vβ primers. Peripheral blood lymphocytes from four healthy volunteers and 1 "reactive" lymph node served as a control and expressed all 20 Vβ families tested for. In T-cell lines, with restricted Vβ expression, and in three patients with advanced MF, only one or two Vβ families were expressed at the mRNA level. In an early MF lesion this monoclonal expression was absent: several Vβ families were expressed with a weak intensity. This may indicate either a polyclonal origin of MF, or that too few monoclonal neoplastic cells were present in the tissue specimen. In the four nodal T-cell NHL, only one family could be clearly distinguished, whereas some of the other Vβ families showed only a weak expression. These latter families represent the reactive T-cell component in the nodal T-cell NHL. Both in nodal T-cell NHL and in MF there was no preferential expression of a particular Vβ family. There was a good correlation between PCR data and the expression of Vβ-family protein products observed by immunohistochemistry on tissue sections of the T-cell lymphomas. All T-cell lines, three cases of MF, and three cases of nodal T-cell NHL showed a rearrangement of the TCR β chain on DNA level. © 1992.