On the role of the pre-T cell receptor in alphabeta versus gammadelta T lineage commitment.
The role of the pre-T cell receptor (TCR) in lineage commitment to the gammadelta versus alphabeta lineage of T cells was addressed by analyzing TCRbeta chain rearrangements in gammadelta T cells from wild-type and pre-TCR-deficient mice by single cell polymerase chain reaction. Results show that the pre-TCR selects against gammadelta T cells containing rearranged Vbeta genes and that gammadelta T cell precursors but not gammadelta T cells express the pre-TCRalpha protein. Furthermore, pre-TCR-induced proliferation could not be detected in gammadelta T cells. We propose that the pre-TCR commits developing T cells to the alphabeta lineage by an instructive mechanism that has largely replaced an evolutionary more ancient stochastic mechanism of lineage commitment.
Aifantis
I
I
Institut Necker, INSERM U373, Faculté de Médecine, Necker-Enfants-Malades, Paris, France.
Azogui
O
O
Feinberg
J
J
Saint-Ruf
C
C
Buer
J
J
von Boehmer
H
H
D000818:Animals; D019070:Cell Lineage; D015333:Gene Rearrangement, beta-Chain T-Cell Antigen Receptor; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D016693:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, alpha-beta / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D016692:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, gamma-delta / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000166:cytology* / Q000502:physiology
D016693:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, alpha-beta; D016692:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, gamma-delta