title: Close linkage of the mouse and human CD3 gamma- and delta-chain genes suggests that their transcription is controlled by common regulatory elements.
abstract: Antigen receptors on the T-cell surface are noncovalently associated with at least four invariant polypeptide chains, CD3-gamma, -delta, -epsilon, and -zeta. The mouse CD3-gamma gene, consisting of seven exons, was found to be highly homologous to the CD3-delta gene described earlier. Both the high level of sequence homology and the exon/intron organization indicate that the CD3-gamma and -delta genes arose by gene duplication. Surprisingly, murine and human genomic DNA clones could be isolated that contained elements of both the CD3-gamma and CD3-delta genes. In fact, the putative transcription start site of the mouse CD3-gamma gene is less than 1.4 kilobases from the transcription initiation site of the mouse CD3-delta gene. Common elements that regulate the divergent transcription of the two genes are therefore proposed to be located in the intervening 1.4-kilobase DNA segment. This might contribute to the coordinate expression of the CD3-gamma and -delta genes during intrathymic maturation of T lymphocytes.
authors.affiliation: Division of Tumor Immunology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Saito
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Koyama
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Georgopoulos
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Clevers
authors.forename: W G
authors.initials: WG
authors.lastname: Haser
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: LeBien
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tonegawa
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Terhorst
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D000945:Antigens, Differentiation, T-Lymphocyte / Q000235:genetics*; D001483:Base Sequence; D017252:CD3 Complex; D004262:DNA Restriction Enzymes; D005091:Exons; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D008040:Genetic Linkage; D006801:Humans; D007438:Introns; D051379:Mice; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D014158:Transcription, Genetic
chemical_list: D000945:Antigens, Differentiation, T-Lymphocyte; D017252:CD3 Complex; D004262:DNA Restriction Enzymes