title: Aberrant transcription of unrearranged T-cell receptor beta gene in mouse brain.
abstract: The nervous system and the immune system share several functional molecules involved in various cell-cell interaction events. In this study, we used in situ hybridization to identify immune molecules that are expressed by a restricted population of neurons in the mouse brain and found that mRNA for the beta subunit of T-cell receptor (TCRbeta) was predominantly and strongly localized to neurons in deep layers of the cerebral neocortex and weakly expressed in the thalamus. Developmentally, TCRbeta mRNA expression started at embryonic day 15 in the thalamic nuclei and at postnatal day 1 in the cerebral neocortex. The level of TCRbeta mRNA in the neocortex subsequently increased until postnatal day 21, and it remained high in the adult. Detailed analysis revealed that only the Cbeta2 segment of TCRbeta, not the Cbeta1 or Vbeta segments, was expressed by the brain neurons. By the 5' rapid amplification of cDNA ends method, we determined a brain-specific transcription start site in the Jbeta2 region locus, not in the Vbeta region locus. Furthermore, we confirmed that the aberrant transcription around the Jbeta2 region took place only in neurons and lymphocytes in transgenic mice. These results demonstrate that the transcriptional machinery for unrearranged TCRbeta expression is shared by the nervous and immune systems and raise a possibility of gene rearrangement in neurons under certain circumstances.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Neurobiology of Synapse, RIKEN Brain Science Institute, Wako, Saitama 351-0198, Japan. yoshihara@brain.riken.go.jp
authors.forename: Atsushi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nishiyori
authors.forename: Yoko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hanno
authors.forename: Michiko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Saito
authors.forename: Yoshihiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yoshihara
mesh_terms: D017398:Alternative Splicing / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence / Q000235:genetics; D001921:Brain / Q000166:cytology / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D002450:Cell Communication / Q000276:immunology; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000276:immunology*; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D015333:Gene Rearrangement, beta-Chain T-Cell Antigen Receptor; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D019579:Neocortex / Q000166:cytology / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000166:cytology / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D015213:Neuroimmunomodulation / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D020033:Protein Isoforms / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary / Q000235:genetics; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000378:metabolism; D016693:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, alpha-beta / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000172:deficiency / Q000235:genetics*; D013788:Thalamus / Q000166:cytology / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D024363:Transcription Initiation Site / Q000502:physiology; D014158:Transcription, Genetic / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D020033:Protein Isoforms; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D016693:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, alpha-beta