CONSERVED TCR USAGE BY HLA-CW-ASTERISK-1601-RESTRICTED T-CELL CLONES RECOGNIZING MELANOMA ANTIGENS

In this study we determined TCR alpha and beta chain nucleotide sequen ces of HLA-Cw1601-restricted cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) clones obta ined from the peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) of a melanoma patient . These clones were previously shown to be involved in the recognition of melanoma-associated antigenic epitopes SAYGEPRKL and AARAVFLAL enc oded by gene MAGE-1 and BAGE respectively. All (3/3) anti-MAGE-1 CTL c lones displayed TCRBV5 usage and one clonotype was found twice, >1 yea r apart, in patient's PBL. Two out of three anti-BAGE CTL clones showe d the same TCRAV/AJ and TCRBV/BJ combinations and differed in the alph a chain CDR3 for two residues and in the beta chain CDR3 for a single nucleotide which, however, did not change translation, These results s uggest a pattern of TCR conservation in CTL selected for recognition o f MAGE-1 or BAGE peptides on the autologous melanoma.