Terminal deoxynucleotidyltransferase is required for the establishment of private virus-specific CD8 TCR repertoires and facilitates optimal CTL responses

Abstract

Virus-immune CD8+ TCR repertoires specific for particular peptide-MHC class I complexes may be substantially shared between (public), or unique to, individuals (private). Because public TCRs can show reduced TdT-mediated N-region additions, we analyzed how TdT shapes the heavily public (to DbNP366) and essentially private (to D bPA224) CTL repertoires generated following influenza A virus infection of C57BL/6 (B6, H2b) mice. The DbNP 366-specific CTL response was virtually clonal in TdT-/- B6 animals, with one of the three public clonotypes prominent in the wild-type (wt) response consistently dominating the TdT-/- set. Furthermore, this massive narrowing of TCR selection for DbNP366 reduced..