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Updated: Jan 27, 2026

T and B Cell Receptor Immune Repertoire Analysis using Next-generation Sequencing
Published on: January 12, 2021
Tasmanian devils with contagious cancer exhibit a constricted T-cell repertoire diversity
Yuanyuan Cheng1, Mariano Makara2, Emma Peel2
1UQ Genomics Initiative, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, QLD, 4072, Australia.
Abstract:
The Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisii) is threatened by a contagious cancer, known as Devil Facial Tumour Disease (DFTD). A highly diverse T-cell receptor (TCR) repertoire is crucial for successful host defence against cancers. By investigating TCR beta chain diversity in devils of different ages, we show that the T-cell repertoire in devils constricts in their second year of life, which may explain the higher DFTD prevalence in older devils. Unexpectedly, we also observed a pronounced decline in TCR diversity and T cell clonal expansion in devils after DFTD infection. These findings overturned the previous assumption that DFTD did not directly impact host immunity.
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