Evidence for in vivo clonal proliferation of unique population of blood CD4-/CD8- T cells bearing T-cell receptor alpha and beta chains in two normal men

Rare T lymphocytes bearing CD3 surface antigen and T-cell receptor (TCR) alpha and beta chains, but lacking both CD4 and CD8 antigens, viz, TCR alpha beta+CD4–8- cells, appear at a frequency of 0.1% to 2% in peripheral blood TCR alpha beta+ cells of normal donors. Here we report two unusual cases, found among 100 healthy individuals studied, who showed an abnormally elevated frequency of these T cells, ie, 5% to 10% and 14% to 19%. Southern blot analyses of the TCR alpha beta+CD4–8- clones all showed the identical rearrangement patterns for each individual, demonstrating that these are derivatives of a single T cell. The same rearrangement patterns were also observed for the freshly isolated lymphocytes of TCR alpha beta+CD4-CD8- fraction, which excludes the possible bias in the processes of in vitro cloning. These TCR alpha beta+CD4–8- T cells were found to express other mature T-cell markers such as CD2, CD3, and CD5 antigens, as well as natural killer (NK) cell markers (CD11b, CD16, CD56, and CD57 antigens) for both individuals. Further, although lectin-dependent or redirected antibody- dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicities were observed for both freshly sorted lymphocytes of TCR alpha beta+CD4–8- fraction and in vitro established clones, NK-like activity was not detected.