T cell repertoire analysis and comparison between different compartments in two MS patients

Excerpt

T cells play probably a major role in the physiopathology of Multiple Sclerosis (MS). One way to study T cell responses in MS is to investigate the T cell receptor (TCR) structure in patients. This method is based on the analysis of the hypervariable region of the TCR named CDR3, responsible of the specific recognition of the antigen. To date, we know that the alterations of T cell repertoire in circulating lymphocytes are more pronounced in MS patients than in healthy controls. Moreover, several teams showed that the infiltrating T cells of the Central Nervous System (CNS) of MS patients present an oligoclonal repartition. So, it would be essential to know if correspondence exists between the alterations of the repertoire in the blood or Cerebrospinal Fluid (CSF) and in the CNS. …