Functionally Different HA-1 Specific T Cells Use the Same TRBV7-9: A Snake in the Grass for T Cell Receptor Transfer Studies

New developments in cellular adoptive immunotherapy have led to tailor made therapies for cancer patients. One of the latter therapies is tumor antigen–specific T cell receptor (TCR) transfer enabling recognition of, for example, the hematopoietic restricted minor histocompatibility (H) antigen HA-1. Since HA-1 is also expressed on leukemic and leukemic progenitor cells, transfer of in vitro–generated HA-1 CTL or usage of HA-1 TCR-modified T cells will contribute to an anti-leukemic response. The fact that all thus far analyzed HA-1–specific T cells express the same TCR Vbeta TRBV7-9, makes this TCR an attractive candidate for TCR transfer studies. Here we show however different cytolytic capacity among the TRBV7-9 expressing HA-1–specific T cells. Consequently, functional in vitro studies of the relevant T cells prior to TCR transfer are highly recommended.