TCRVß clonotypic analysis of vaginal T lymphocytes during experimental vaginal candidiasis in the murine system

Abstract

To further understand the role of localized T cells in protection against vaginal candidiasis (VC), vaginal T lymphocyte TCRVβ repertoir was evaluated during experimental VC. RNA was extracted from lymphocytes of naïve and estrogen-treated Candida albicans-infected mice and RT-PCRed using TCRVβ primers corresponding to 24 common TCRVβ genes. All TCRVβ rearrangements were detected in vaginal T cells and thymocytes of naive mice. Although, the full complement of TCRVβ repertoire was detectable in vaginal T cells at days 14 and 21 post-infection, there was overrepresentation of TCRVβs 1, 6, 10 and 15 at day 14 and TCRVβs 1, 4, 6, 8.3, 10, 13, 14 and 18 at day 21. Expression of all TCRVβ rearrangements in vaginal T cells raises the possibility of an extrathymic developmental origin. Time-dependent overrepresentation of specific TCRVβs during VC may indicate infection-related specific T cell clonal expansion.