T cell receptor rearrangements in various S49 lymphoma sublines

The S49 cell lines are a unique series of tumor sublines isolated from a single BALB/c thymoma. Several different sublines were previously isolated from non-mutagenized cells using pharmacologic agents that would select for different stages of thymic development. In this report we show that all seven of the sublines studied express TL class I Ag confirming their derivation from immature thymocytes. This uniform TL expression is in contrast to the previously characterized locus-specific shut off of Kd,Dd, and/or LdAg by various S49 sublines. Furthermore, S49 sublines were found to display disparate CD4/CD8 expression. Whereas the unselected subline is a CD4+/CD8+ double positive, each of the selected sublines is singly positive for either CD4 or CD8. All seven sublines were found to be CD3+ and express alpha beta TCR heterodimers. To establish whether the S49 sublines have a monoclonal or polyclonal origin, their TCR rearrangements were compared. Based on the detection of identical but unusual TCR gamma rearrangements and similarity of the alpha and beta rearrangements, we propose that the S49 sublines probably had a monoclonal origin. However, significant differences between the TCR alpha and beta gene rearrangement were observed, suggesting that these sublines have undergone further differentiation at TCR loci in addition to CD4/CD8 and MHC loci. Evidence is presented that much of this phenotypic diversity preceded their in vitro selection.