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Genomic organization of the genes encoding mouse T-cell receptor α-chain

Abstract

The vertebrate immune system uses two kinds of antigen-specific receptors, the immunoglobulin molecules of B cells and the antigen receptors of T cells. T-cell receptors are formed by a combination of two different polypeptide chains, α and β (refs 1–3). Three related gene families are expressed in T cells, those encoding the T-cell receptor, α and β, and a third, γ (refs 4–6), whose function is unknown. Each of these polypeptide chains can be divided into variable (V) and constant (C) regions. The Vβ regions are encoded by Vβ, diversity (Dβ) and joining (Jβ) gene segments that rearrange in the differentiating T cell to generate Vβ genes7–14. The Vγ regions are encoded by Vγ Jγ and, possibly, Dγ gene segments4,5. Studies of a complementary DNA clones suggest that α-polypeptides have Vα and Cαregions and are encoded by Vα and Jα gene segments and a Cα gene15–17. Elsewhere in this issue we demonstrate that 18 of 19 Jα sequences examined are distinct18, indicating that the Jα gene segment repertoire is much larger than those of the immunoglobulin (4–5) or β (14) gene families. Here we report the germline structures of one Vα and six Jα mouse gene segments and demonstrate that the structures of the Vα and Jα gene segments and the α-recognition sequences for DNA rearrangement are similar to those of their immunoglobulin and β-chain counterparts. We also show that the Jα gene-segment organization is strikingly different from that of the other immunoglobulin and rearranging T-cell gene families. Eighteen Jα gene segments map over 60 kilobases (kb) of DNA 5' to the Cα gene.

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Winoto, A., Mjolsness, S. & Hood, L. Genomic organization of the genes encoding mouse T-cell receptor α-chain. Nature 316, 832–836 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1038/316832a0

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