Lethally irradiated (1100 cGy) AKR mice were transplanted with Rag-1 BM (5 × 10⁶) and a spleen cell-adjusted dose of 5 × 10⁵ T cells obtained 19 to 29 days after BMT from B6→AKR chimeras. Spleen cells from individual chimeras (input) were each then transplanted into 2 to 3 secondary AKR hosts. Transplanted secondary AKR animals were killed 90 days after BMT, and spleen cells were analyzed by CDR3 spectratyping.

Skewed input refers to at least one band showing more than 25% intensity deviation from a normal pattern.

Missing refers to no appreciable signal.

Complex input refers to the pattern observed in normal B6 spleen cells.

Reconstitution in secondary recipients 90 days after BMT was graded as complete if the pattern was similar to that observed in a normal spleen and partial if it was more complex than observed in transferred T cells but not entirely normal. No reconstitution indicated that the original skewed pattern was maintained, whereas loss referred to loss of signal from the Vβ family analyzed, either because there was no input signal or the cells corresponding to the input did not expand. Included in the partial category were those cases in which the original skew disappeared but reconstitution was limited to 2 or 3 new bands, but not a fully complex repertoire. In calculating the percent reconstitution, only those families in which there was an observable signal were compared.

Percent reconstitution = partial + complete/19 total Vβ families. The increase in repertoire complexity is indicated by comparison of the percent reconstitution versus the percent complex repertoire in the input spleen cell population.

Concordance refers to the extent to which both recipients, or 2 of 3 recipient mice showed the same pattern of T-cell repertoire reconstitution. A Vβ family was scored as concordant if both of the mice showed the same pattern or if 2 of 3 mice showed the same pattern. Data in parentheses shows the outcomes from nonconcordant pairs or outliers in the triplicate.