Hodgkin and Reed-Sternberg cells do not carry T-cell receptor gamma gene
rearrangements: evidence from single-cell polymerase chain reaction
examination
H Daus, L Trumper, J Roth, F von Bonin, P Moller, A Gause and M Pfreundschuh
Department of Internal Medicine I, University of Saarland, Homburg,
Germany.
Hodgkin and Reed-Sternberg (H&RS) cells are generally accepted to be
the neoplastic cells of Hodgkin's disease (HD), even though they represent
only a minority of the cellular infiltrate in affected tissues. Recent
immunologic studies and Southern blot analyses of DNA extracted from whole
lymph node tissue favored, but did not convincingly prove a lymphoid origin
of H&RS cells. To detect rearrangements of the T-cell receptor gamma
chain (TCR gamma) genes at the single-cell level as an indication of early
T-cell lymphoid differentiation, we isolated H&RS cells by
micromanipulation from cytospin preparations of fresh biopsy material. TCR
gamma chain rearrangement was detected by polymerase chain reaction using
four "forward primers" that were constructed corresponding to all four V
families and two "reverse primers" corresponding to consensus sequences of
J segments. Rearrangements of all V families in combination with the
different J segments were detected in human peripheral blood and tonsillar
T cells. Although rearrangements of TCR gamma chain genes were shown in
single cells of 10 of 10 T-cell leukemias, no rearrangement of these genes
was found in single H&RS cells from 13 consecutive patients with HD.
Our results indicate that H&RS cells from the vast majority of cases
are not derived from T cells. This finding may have implications for the
pathogenesis of HD and the development of more effective treatment
regimens.
Volume 85,
Issue 6,
pp. 1590-1595,
03/15/1995
Copyright © 1995 by The American Society of Hematology
