The characterization of the T-cell receptor (TCR) repertoire of CD4+ regulatory T cells (TR)
has been limited due to the RNA degradation that results following permeabilization and
fixation as routinely used for intracellular staining of Foxp3. In the present study the clonal
composition of human umbilical cord blood (UCB) and adult peripheral blood mononuclear
cell (PBMC) CD4+ TR and non-TR was characterized by a DNA-based multiplex PCR which
allowed for the consistent clonotypic characterization of cells that have undergone fixation …