Here we aim to map the intestinal T-cell receptor [TCR] repertoire in patients with Crohn's disease, using next-generation sequencing technology to examine the clonality of the T-cell compartment in relation to mucosal inflammation and response to therapy.
The persistently expanded TCR-beta chain sequences of CD4+ peripheral blood T cells were identifiable in genomic DNA isolated from archival tissue of intestine from subjects with Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis by Southern blotting and direct DNA sequencing.
In the present study, accumulation of lesion-specific clonal TCR bands in the intestinal lesions of Crohn's disease patients was demonstrated by means of a highly sensitive method based on single strand conformational polymorphism.