Hodgkin and Reed-Sternberg cells do not carry T-cell receptor γ gene rearrangements: Evidence from single-cell polymerase chain reaction examination

Abstract

Hodgkin and Reed-Sternberg (H and RS) cells are generally accepted to be the neoplastic cells of Hodgkin's disease (HD), even though they represent only a minority of the cellular infiltrate in affected tissues. Recent immunologic studies and Southern blot analyses of DNA extracted from whole lymph node tissue favored, but did not convincingly prove a lymphoid origin of H and RS cells. To detect rearrangements of the T-cell receptor γ chain (TCRγ) genes at the single-cell level as an indication of early T-cell lymphoid differentiation, we isolated H and RS cells by micromanipulation from cytospin preparations of fresh biopsy material. TCRγ chain rearrangement was detected by polymerase chain reaction using four 'forward primers' that were constructed corresponding to all four V families and two 'reverse primers' corresponding to consensus sequences of J segments. Rearrangements of all V families in combination with the different J segments were detected in human peripheral blood and tonsillar T cells. Although rearrangements of TCRγ chain genes were shown in single cells of 10 of 10 T- cell leukemias, no rearrangement of these genes was found in single H and RS cells from 13 consecutive patients with HD. Our results indicate that H and RS cells from the vast majority of cases are not derived from T cells. This finding may have implications for the pathogenesis of HD and the development of more effective treatment regimens.