Objective: To detect the skewness of T cell receptor (TCR) Vα and TCR Vβ of patients with Type 1 diabetes.

 

Methods: The heparinized venous blood was collected from ten patients with Type 1 diabetes. The peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) were isolated and used to extract mRNA. Reverse amplyfication was performed for cDNA synthesis. The skewness of TCR Vα and Vβ was detected with real-time florescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RQ-PCR) and analysed by DNA melting-curve analysis technique, respectively. 

 

Results: Among the TCR Vα genes, the skewness frequency rate (SFR) of Vα22 was 30%; both of Vα5 and Vα24 were 20%; the SFR of Vα28 was 10%, which was the only gene that showed restricted-clone. In all the Vβ genes, Vβ7 and Vβ17 were the the highest expression genes, and their SFRs were both 60%. Vβ11 was near them with the SFR of 40%; the restricted clonal genes were Vβ18 and Vβ20, and their SFRs were 10% and 20%, respectivley. 

 

Conclusions: There were skewed genes in TCR Vα and TCR Vβ, which were probably relative to the onset of Type 1 diabetes.