title: Crucial role of the pre-T-cell receptor alpha gene in development of alpha beta but not gamma delta T cells.
abstract: In T-cell precursors, the T-cell-receptor beta chain is expressed before the T-cell-receptor alpha chain and is sufficient to advance T-cell development in the absence of T-cell receptor alpha chains. In immature T cells, the T-cell-receptor beta protein can form disulphide-linked heterodimers with the pre-T-cell-receptor alpha chain and associate with signal-transducing CD3 molecules. The recently cloned pre-T-cell-receptor alpha gene encodes a transmembrane protein that is expressed in immature but not mature T cells. Here we show that alpha beta, but not gamma delta, cell development is severely hampered in pre-T-cell-receptor alpha-gene-deficient mice, which establishes a crucial role for the pre-T-cell receptor in early thymocyte development.
authors.affiliation: Basel Institute of Immunology, Switzerland.
authors.forename: H J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Fehling
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Krotkova
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Saint-Ruf
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: von Boehmer
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D018390:Gene Targeting; D051379:Mice; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016693:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, alpha-beta / Q000032:analysis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D016692:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, gamma-delta / Q000032:analysis; D016176:T-Lymphocyte Subsets / Q000166:cytology / Q000276:immunology; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000166:cytology* / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D016693:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, alpha-beta; D016692:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, gamma-delta