gamma delta T cell receptor repertoire in blood and colonic mucosa of rhesus macaques

Although their precise roles are not well defined, gamma delta T lymphocyte s are recognized as regular components of immune responses. These cells exp ress a limited T cell receptor repertoire and they can be stimulated by sol uble ligands without conventional processing and presentation by major hist ocompatibility antigens. Progress in this area has been limited by the subs tantial differences between murine and human gamma delta T cells and the la ck of knowledge about these cells in nonhuman primates. We used molecular a nalysis of T cell receptor diversity to characterize gamma delta T cell pop ulations from peripheral blood and colon of rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta ). The gamma delta T cell receptor diversity was limited and distinct for t hese tissue compartments. particularly in the TCRGV2 family. Furthermore, t he TCRDV1+ subset of peripheral blood gamma delta T cells showed signs of p rogressive oligoclonalization as a function of age. Similar observations ha ve been reported for human tissue samples and our results validate rhesus m acaques as an appropriate animal model for studying primate gamma delta T c ell populations.