title: Characterization of three isotypes of immunoglobulin light chains and T-cell antigen receptor alpha in zebrafish.
abstract: The zebrafish (Danio rerio) has become a significant model for understanding the developmental regulation of gene expression and holds considerable potential for characterizing the development of the immune system. Using a number of different approaches, including heterologous hybridization and short-primer PCR, cDNAs for three different classes of light-chain genes were identified and characterized. The zebrafish light chains are similar to trout type 1, trout type 2, and catfish type F, respectively. T-cell antigen receptor alpha (TCRalpha) was also identified and characterized. A high proportion of unusual transcripts including sterile transcripts, germline VJC transcripts, aberrant splice forms, and V-V transcripts were encountered in the immunoglobulin and TCR cDNAs examined. The light-chain and TCRalpha loci each consist of multiple families of V gene segments, apparent even from the small numbers of cDNAs of each isotype sequenced. The gene sequences reported provide an essential set of markers of both B- and T-cell lineages that will facilitate investigations of immune system development.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, University of South Florida College of Medicine, Children's Research Institute, St. Petersburg 33701, USA.
authors.forename: R N
authors.initials: RN
authors.lastname: Haire
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Rast
authors.forename: R T
authors.initials: RT
authors.lastname: Litman
authors.forename: G W
authors.initials: GW
authors.lastname: Litman
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D018076:DNA, Complementary; D019673:Genes, T-Cell Receptor alpha; D007127:Immunoglobulin Constant Regions / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D007132:Immunoglobulin Isotypes / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics; D007133:Immunoglobulin Joining Region / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D007147:Immunoglobulin Light Chains / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D007135:Immunoglobulin Variable Region / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D015027:Zebrafish / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D018076:DNA, Complementary; D007127:Immunoglobulin Constant Regions; D007132:Immunoglobulin Isotypes; D007133:Immunoglobulin Joining Region; D007147:Immunoglobulin Light Chains; D007135:Immunoglobulin Variable Region