Rearrangements of T-cell antigen receptor delta chain gene in hematologic
neoplasms
N Asou, T Hattori, M Matsuoka, F Kawano and K Takatsuki
Second Department of Internal Medicine, Kumamoto University Medical School,
Japan.
Rearrangements of the T-cell antigen receptor (TCR) delta chain gene were
studied in primary neoplastic cells from 137 patients with leukemia or
lymphoma. TCR delta gene rearrangements or deletions were observed in all
50 T-cell neoplasms: 5 of 8 CD3- T-cell neoplasms showed rearrangements,
whereas biallelic deletion of TCR delta gene was the most common pattern in
CD3+ T-cell neoplasm (39 of 42 patients). Rearrangements of TCR delta gene
were also detected in 23 of 40 immature B-cell leukemias, including 22 of
25 patients with rearrangements of TCR gamma gene, 2 of 17 mature B-cell
neoplasms, and 3 of 30 myeloid leukemias. Thus, TCR delta gene
rearrangement or deletion is always found in T-cell neoplasms and is
frequently found in immature B-cell leukemias associated with TCR gamma
gene rearrangement. Furthermore, TCR delta gene rearrangements associated
with the germline configuration of the TCR beta, gamma, and immunoglobulin
heavy chain genes were observed in two immature T-cell leukemias,
suggesting that TCR delta gene rearrangements precede TCR gamma and beta
gene rearrangements. These results indicate that an analysis of TCR delta
gene rearrangement provides potential tools to establish the clonality of
immature T-cell neoplasms and to identify the normal stages of lymphocyte
differentiation.
Volume 74,
Issue 8,
pp. 2707-2712,
12/01/1989
Copyright © 1989 by The American Society of Hematology
