Deletional rearrangement in the human T-cell receptor. cap alpha. -chain locus

Journal Article · Tue Dec 01 00:00:00 EST 1987 · Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.84.23.8608· OSTI ID:6218420

de Villartay, J P; Lewis, D; Hockett, R; Waldmann, T A; Korsmeyer, S J; Cohen, D I

The antigen-specific receptor on the surface of mature T lymphocytes is a heterodimer consisting of polypeptides termed ..cap alpha.. and ..beta... In the course of characterizing human T-cell tumors with an immature (CD4/sup -/, CD8/sup -/) surface phenotype, the authors detected a 2-kilobase ..cap alpha..-related transcript. Analysis of cDNA clones corresponding to this transcript established that a genetic element (which they call TEA, for T early ..cap alpha..) located between the ..cap alpha..-chain variable- and joining-region genes had been spliced to the ..cap alpha.. constant region. The TEA transcript is present early in thymocyte ontogeny, and its expression declines during T-cell maturation. More important, the TEA area functions as an active site for rearrangement within the ..cap alpha.. gene locus. Blot hybridization of restriction enzyme-digested DNA with a TEA probe revealed a narrowly limited pattern of rearrangement in polyclonal thymic DNA, surprisingly different from the pattern expected for the mature ..cap alpha.. gene with its complex diversity. These DNA blots also showed that TEA is generally present in the germ-line configuration in cells expressing the ..gamma..delta heterodimeric receptor and is deleted from mature (..cap alpha beta..-expressing) T-lymphocyte tumors and lines. Moreover, the TEA transcript lacked a long open reading frame for protein but instead possessed multiple copies of a repetitive element resembling those utilized in the heavy-chain class switch of the immunoglobulin genes. The temporal nature of the rearrangements and expression detected by TEA suggests that this recombination could mediate a transition between immature (..gamma..delta-expressing) T cells and mature (..cap alpha beta..-expressing) T cells.

• Research Organization: National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD (USA)
• OSTI ID: 6218420
• Journal Information: Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.; (United States), Vol. 84:23
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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