Figure 5.
CDR3 length profiles for TCR transcripts in CD8+ HLA-E tetramer–positive T cells from HTLV-1–infected individuals and seronegative controls. (A) Left portion shows typical gaussian profiles found in spectratypes derived from total PBMCs. Each Vβ spectratype generally had 5 to 7 peaks with 1 or 2 dense bands in their middle portion. Center and right portions show “monoclonal” and “oligoclonal” spectratypes observed in some HLA-E tetramer–positive cells. (B) Representative results of TCR spectratyping from HAM/TSP patients, asymptomatic carriers, and healthy controls.