T cell subset-specific expression of antigen receptor beta chains in alpha chain-transgenic mice.
A large number of V beta 8 gene-encoded cDNA were analyzed from peripheral CD4+ and CD8+ T cell subsets of T cell receptor (TcR) alpha chain-transgenic mice. This analysis demonstrates that a limited repertoire of TcR beta chains are co-expressed with the transgenic alpha chain. Most importantly, certain V beta 8-J beta combinations were found exclusively in one of the subsets and, in some cases, subset-specific differences were localized to the VDJ junctional region of the beta chain genes. In contrast, CD4-CD8- transgenic T cells, as well as CD4+ and CD8+ T cells from normal littermate controls, were found to express diverse beta chain repertoires. The present study suggests that beta chains with distinct structural characteristics are expressed in the CD4+ and CD8+ subsets, respectively. Moreover, the data suggest that the same structural constraints do not apply to the population of CD4-CD8- transgenic T cells.
Ivars
F
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Unit for Applied Cell and Molecular Biology, Umeå University, Sweden.
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D015704:CD4 Antigens / Q000032:analysis; D016827:CD8 Antigens / Q000032:analysis; D051379:Mice; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016693:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, alpha-beta / Q000032:analysis* / Q000235:genetics; D016176:T-Lymphocyte Subsets / Q000276:immunology*
D015704:CD4 Antigens; D016827:CD8 Antigens; D016693:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, alpha-beta