title: T cell receptor V alpha gene segment with alternate splicing in the junctional region.
abstract: The locus encoding mouse TCR-alpha chain includes approximately 100 V alpha gene segments that can be organized in about 20 structural subfamilies. Southern blot analysis of a T cell line derived from the BALB/c strain, M5T, has indicated that both alpha loci were rearranged, as assessed by the deletion of the delta locus, and that the V alpha gene segment involved in one of the rearrangements did not belong to any of the V alpha subfamilies already described. Transcripts of TCR-alpha chains from the M5T line were cloned after cDNA synthesis and anchored-polymerase chain reaction, revealing a V alpha gene segment of an as yet unidentified subfamily, V alpha 5T. Molecular cloning of germ-line V alpha 5T gene segments has shown that this subfamily contained two members, one of them being a pseudogene. The two members were located to each extremity of the alpha locus associated with a member of the V alpha 13 and V alpha BWB subfamilies. Analysis of transcripts bearing the V alpha 5T gene segment in the M5T line as well as in thymocytes has revealed that J alpha are frequently absent. This is due to an alternate donor splice site generated at the V alpha 5T-J alpha junction that leads to a splicing from the end of V alpha 5T to C alpha instead of the J alpha to C alpha conventional splicing. The impact of J alpha spliced-out transcripts on the allelic exclusion process is discussed.
authors.affiliation: Département d'Immunologie, Institut Pasteur, CNRS UA359, Paris, France.
authors.forename: P N
authors.initials: PN
authors.lastname: Marche
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Six
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Gahéry
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Gris-Liebe
authors.forename: P A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Cazenave
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Jouvin-Marche
mesh_terms: D017398:Alternative Splicing; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D002460:Cell Line; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016693:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, alpha-beta / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D016693:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, alpha-beta