Abstract: Objective A two step polymerase chain reaction (PCR) strategy was used to amplify copy DNAs corresponding to the special region of the T cell receptor (TCR)-chain. Methods and Results With this technique, a dominant TCR gene rearrangement that used the β8 variable region gene segment was identified in a patient with cuteneous T cell lymphoma and its sequence determined from multiple independently generated subclonal PCR products. An oligonucleotide corresponding to the highly variable junctional region of the clonally expanded TCR gene rearrangement was synthesized and used for further confirming studies. Finally, from the sequence data obtained, a peptide corresponding to the -chain junctional region sequence of the patient's clonally expanded T-cells was generated. Conclusion Preliminary studies using this peptide indicate that it is antigenic and may potentially be useful in developing a patient-specific tumour vaccine.

Key words: Polymerase chain reaction, T-cell receptor, Gene rearrangement, Cutaneous T-cell lymphoma