T cell receptor analysis in patients with Graves′ disease and Graves′ ophthalmopathy / 中华内分泌代谢杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To establish the characteristic T cell receptor(TCR) repertoires which could distinguish the Graves′ disease(GD) and thyroid associated ophthalmopathy(TAO) immune repertoire for precision diagnosis.Methods:Fifteen Graves′ disease patients(nine patients without Graves′ ophthalmopathy and six with Graves′ ophthalmopathy)were enrolled in this study, and they were diagnosed less than 2 months and were naive to treatment. Twenty healthy volunteers who were age and sex matched served as controls. The blood samples were collected at diagnosed. RNA was isolated for TCR repertoire sequencing.Results:TCR diversity in GD and TAO patients was significantly lower than that of healthy controls. With TCR high-throughput sequencing data, characteristic TCR databases of GD and TAO, containing 157 and 116 VJ families, was constructed. In these VJ families, both common and unique families of the two diseases existed.Conclusion:GD and TAO have common pathogenesis, but have different dominant T cell clones, which mediate different immune responses. Therefore, the characteristic TCR of GD and TAO patients may be used as a potential molecular marker.