title: Expression of two T cell receptor alpha chains on the surface of normal murine T cells.
abstract: We have previously reported that a subset of T cells in T cell receptor (TCR)-transgenic mice may express two different alpha chains on their surface. The expression of two functional alpha chains has also been demonstrated for human peripheral blood T cells. In this report, we show that a proportion of normal murine lymph node T cells express two functional alpha chains on their surface. The extrapolated frequency of these cells present in the normal repertoire ranges from 7-21%, with an average of 15%. Our analysis of a small number of antigen-specific T cell clones suggests that the frequency of antigen-responsive cells expressing two surface alpha chains is relatively low. This raises the possibility that dual alpha chain T cells may have a selective disadvantage in responding to specific antigen.
authors.affiliation: Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, Melbourne, Australia.
authors.forename: W R
authors.initials: WR
authors.lastname: Heath
authors.forename: F R
authors.initials: FR
authors.lastname: Carbone
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bertolino
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kelly
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cose
authors.forename: J F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Miller
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D008198:Lymph Nodes / Q000276:immunology; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016693:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, alpha-beta / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000737:chemistry; D016176:T-Lymphocyte Subsets; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D016693:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, alpha-beta