Different V beta usage in antigen-specific and alloreactive T cells specific for the same MHC elements.

V beta 8 has been shown to be used in the majority of antigen specific T cell hybridomas restricted by I-Ad and I-Ed. The usage of V beta 8 in these T cell responses in vivo was confirmed as V beta 8 depleted BALB/c mice responded weakly to these I-Ad- and I-Ed-restricted antigens. We used this deletion assay to further examine if V beta 8 is similarly dominantly used in alloreactive T cell specific for I-Ad/Ed. The depletion of V beta 8-population in allogenic mice did not affect the alloreactive responses toward I-Ad/Ed. Although specific for the same MHC, there is no apparent overlap on the use of TCR V beta 8 between alloreactive T cells and antigen-specific T cells.