T-cell receptor V beta deletion and V alpha polymorphism are responsible for the resistance of SWR mouse to arthritis induction

Collagen type II-induced arthritis (CIA) develops in susceptible mouse strains after intradermal injections of type II collagen (CII) in complete Freund's adjuvant (CFA). Susceptibility to CIA in mice is linked to genes of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC). Although the SWR mouse has a susceptible MHC haplotype (H2 super(q)), it is resistant to CIA. SWR exhibits at least two known immunological defects: (1) it contains a germline deletion of about 50% of T-cell receptor (TCR) V beta -chain gene segments, and (2) SWR is deficient in complement component C5. It has been shown that T cells that express TCRV alpha 11.1 and TCRV beta 8.2 play a substantial role in the pathogenesis of arthritis in the DBA/1 mouse (H2 super(q)). We generated SWR transgenic (tg) mice to determine whether the expression of pathogenic V alpha 11.1 and/or V beta 8.2 transgenes would confer arthritis susceptibility. Arthritis was induced in the SWR TCR alpha beta tg mice, but not in SWR TCR beta tg mice. To address the role of V alpha 11.1 in arthritis susceptibility, we examined the allelic polymorphisms of the Tcra-V11-gene subfamily members between the arthritis susceptible DBA/1 mouse and the arthritis-resistant SWR mouse strain. The amino acid sequences of the V alpha 11.1 alleles differ at two positions (codons 18 and 68). Accordingly, these two amino acid changes are sufficient to allow the production of pathogenic T cells in SWR mice. This is the first demonstration of the association of a particular Tcra-V allele and arthritis susceptibility in mice.