Dominant role of the α-chain in rejection of tumor cells bearing a specific alloantigen in TCRα transgenic mice and in in vitro experiments

• Published in: Oncotarget 2019-08, Vol.10 (47), p.4808-4821
• Main Authors: Zamkova, Maria, Kalinina, Anastasiya, Silaeva, Yuliya, Persiyantseva, Nadezhda, Bruter, Alexandra, Deikin, Alexey, Khromykh, Ludmila, Kazansky, Dmitry
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Research Paper
• ISSN: 1949-2553; 1949-2553
• DOI: 10.18632/oncotarget.27093

Both TCRα and TCRβ types of T-cell receptors contribute to antigen recognition. However, some TCRs have chain centricity, which means that either the α-chain or the β-chain dictates the peptide-MHC complex specificity. Most earlier reports investigated the role of well-studied β-chains in antigen recognition by TCRαβ. In a previous study, we identified TCRs specific to the H-2K molecule. In the present work, we generated transgenic mice carrying the α-chain of this TCR. We found that these transgenic mice rejected EL-4 tumor cells bearing alloantigen H-2K more effectively than wild-type mice and similarly to mice with established specific memory T cells. Moreover, we found that T cells transduced with this TCRα can inhibit EL-4 cell growth and . We also found that transgenic mice recruit fewer CD8 T cells into the peritoneal cavity at the peak of the immune response and had a significantly higher number of central memory CD8 T cells in the spleen of intact transgenic mice compared to intact wild-type control. These results indicate the ability of a single transgenic α-chain of the H-2K -specific TCR to determine specific recognition of the H-2K molecule by a repertoire of T lymphocytes and to rapidly reject H-2K -bearing lymphoma cells.