Identification of a diversity segment of human T-cell receptor β-chain, and comparison with the analogous murine element (original) (raw)

Nature volume 311, pages 387–389 (1984) Cite this article

Abstract

The humoral immune system antigen-binding proteins (immunoglobulins) are disulphide-linked heterodimers of light and heavy chains. The gene for the variable region which determines antigen specificity is assembled when one member from each of the dispersed clusters of variable (V) gene segments, diversity (D) elements (for the heavy chains only) and joining (J) segments rearrange and fuse during B-cell development (reviewed in ref. 1). Short recognition sequences adjacent to these elements appear to be involved in the recombination process. The cellular immune system antigen recognition proteins are receptors on the surface of T cells, which are composed of disulphide-linked _α_-chains and _β_-chains, each of which has a variable and constant region2–4. Recently, cDNA clones of the _β_-chain5 mRNA have been isolated6,7; the genomic arrangement is very similar to immunoglobulin genes with multiple V β genes8, and two clusters of J β segments, each of which is upstream from a constant-region gene segment9. The V β and J β segments have adjacent recombinational recognition sequences like the immunoglobulin elements. However, ∼10 nucleotides of the cDNA clones between the V β and J β regions were not present in the corresponding genomic elements and may have been due to intervening D β segments8,10. Here we describe a diversity element (D _β_1.1) in a region of high human–mouse homology about 650 bases 5′ to the first J β cluster. Two transcripts which include sequences upstream of D _β_1.1 are found in the human thymus. This region may have some other function besides providing the _β_-chain with a diversity segment.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Ontario Cancer Institute, and The Department of Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto, 500 Sherbourne Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M4X 1K9
    Stephen P. Clark, Yasunobu Yoshikai, Sheryle Taylor & Tak W. Mak
  2. Division of Biology, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, 91125, USA
    Gerald Siu & Leroy Hood

Authors

  1. Stephen P. Clark
  2. Yasunobu Yoshikai
  3. Sheryle Taylor
  4. Gerald Siu
  5. Leroy Hood
  6. Tak W. Mak

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Clark, S., Yoshikai, Y., Taylor, S. et al. Identification of a diversity segment of human T-cell receptor _β_-chain, and comparison with the analogous murine element.Nature 311, 387–389 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1038/311387a0

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