Fluorescent PCR combined with CE analysis has been used to identify monoclonal rearrangements in the T-cell receptor (TCR) and immunoglobulin heavy-chain (IgH) genes in order to detect residual disease in lymphoproliferative disorders.
Normal lymphocytes rearrange the TCR and IgH genes randomly during normal development, thus, a normal polyclonal population shows many different rearrangements. Neoplastic cells exhibit a single rearrangement of the TCR or IgH gene.
These rearrangements can be detected by PCR if the amplification is conducted across the sequence where the gene rearranges. Polyclonal samples show a gaussian-like distribution of the peaks, whereas monoclonal or neoplastic cases display a single predominant peak.
Four or five separate peaks are consistent with oligoclonal populations and almost always are the result of immunological reactive processes to unknown antigens.
No comments:
Post a Comment