In order to gain insight into the nature of the antigen (superantigen or nominal protein antigen) involved in psoriatic lesions, we have used a RT-PCR method to analyze the frequency of the 24 T cell receptor V beta chain (TCRBV) subfamilies and the size of the antigen-binding region (CDR3), using the immunoscope assay, in skin lesions of patients with chronic plaque-type psoriasis.
The identified CDR3 motif was highly expressed in cutaneous lymphocyte antigen (CLA+) cells of peripheral blood mononuclear cells from psoriasis patients compared with the expression in healthy individuals.