γδTCR cells of the pregnant ovine uterus express variable T cell receptors and contain granulysin

Abstract

γδ T cells are a prominent granulated cell population in the ruminant pregnant uterus and both their number and granule size increase dramatically during pregnancy. Anchor-RT-PCR was used to assess TCRδ gene usage by γδ T cells from the uterine epithelium of pregnant sheep. The TCRδ genes obtained exhibited distinct combinatorial and junctional diversity and only two out of nine V-D-J rearrangements sequenced were identical. Furthermore, two of the Vδ elements used are also expressed in peripheral blood, indicating that γδTCR use in sheep epithelia is neither restricted nor site-specific, similar to humans but in contrast to findings in mice. Protein analysis of purified, granulated uterine ..