Can sensitized lymphocytes retain reactivity to inner ear antigens after retrieval from frozen storage?

Immune inner ear disease results in rapidly progressive, bilateral sensorineural hearing loss and is one of the few forms of sensorineural hearing loss that can be treated medically. The purpose of this study is to identify and preserve several populations of sensitized lymphocytes from patients with immune inner ear disease as a first step toward cloning autoreactive T cells, in order to study the pathogenesis of disease. Lymphocytes from four patients with high reactivity (stimulation index of 2.5 or greater) were placed in frozen storage. At 8 to 14 months they were thawed and restimulated. All four samples were viable. Two reacted again to inner ear homogenate, but with different intensities. Some lymphocytes sensitized to inner ear antigens can retain reactivity after frozen storage. This methodology may be useful to clone highly reactive T cells.