Abstract
Immune systems of vertebrates function via two types of effector cells, B and T cells, which are capable of antigen-specific recognition. The immunoglobulins, which serve as antigen receptors on B cells, have been well characterized with respect to gene structure1, unlike the T-cell receptors. Recently, cDNA clones thought to correspond to the β-chain locus2–4 of the human and mouse T-cell receptor have been described. The presumptive β-chain clones detect gene rearrangement specifically in T-cell DNA and show homology with immunoglobulin light chains. The similarity of the T-cell β-chain gene system to the immunoglobulin genes has been further demonstrated by the recent observation of variable- and constant-region gene segments as well as joining segments and putative diversity segments5,6. We report here the characterization of cDNA and genomic clones encoding human T-cell receptor β-chain genes. There are two constant-region genes (Cβ1 and Cβ2), each capable of rearrangement and expression as RNA. The gene arrangement, analogous to that of mouse β-chain genes6–8, shows strong evolutionary conservation of the dual Cβ gene system in these two species.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Honjo, T. A. Rev. Immun. 1, 499–528 (1983).
Yanagi, Y. et al. Nature 308, 145–149 (1984).
Hedrick, S. M., Nielson, E. A., Kavaler, J., Cohen, D. I. & Davis, M. M. Nature 308, 153–158 (1984).
Saito, H. et al. Nature 309, 757–762 (1984).
Siu, G. et al. Cell 37, 381–391 (1984).
Chien, Y.-H., Gascoigne, N. R. J., Kavaler, J., Lee, N. E. & Davis, M. M. Nature 309, 322–326 (1984).
Gascoigne, N. R. J., Chien, Y.-H., Becker, D. M., Kavaler, J. & Davis, M. M. Nature 310, 387–391 (1984).
Malissen, M. et al. Cell 37, 1101–1110 (1984).
Minowada, J. et al. in Current Concepts in Human Immunology Vol. 5 (ed. Serrou, B.) 75–84 (Springer, Berlin, 1982).
Schneider, U., Schwenk, H. U. & Bornkamm, G. Int. J. Cancer 19, 621–626 (1977).
Proudfoot, N. J. & Brownlee, G. G. Nature 263, 211–214 (1976).
Kemp, D. J., Harris, A. W., Cory, S. & Adams, J. M. Proc. natn. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 77, 2876–2880 (1980).
Hamlyn, P. H. & Rabbitts, T. H. Nature 304, 135–139 (1983).
Bentley, D. L. & Rabbitts, T. H. Cell 24, 613–633 (1981).
Sanger, F., Nicklen, S. & Coulson, A. R. Proc. natn. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 74, 5463–5467 (1977).
Sanger, F., Coulson, A. R., Barrell, B. G., Smith, A. J. H. & Roe, B. A. J. molec. Biol. 143, 161–178 (1980).
Messing, J., Crea, R. & Seeburg, P. H. Nucleic Acids Res. 9, 309–321 (1981).
Staden, R. Nucleic Acids Res. 10, 4731–4751 (1982).
Staden, R. Nucleic Acids Res. 12, 499–503 (1984).
Favaloro, J., Treisman, R. & Kamen, R. Meth. Enzym. 68, 718–749 (1980).
Maniatis, T., Fritsch, E. F. & Sambrook, J. Molecular Cloning (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, New York, 1982).
Dalla-Favera, R., Martinotti, S., Gallo, R. C., Erikson, J. & Croce, C. M. Science 219, 963–967 (1983).
Davis, M. M., Cohen, D. I., Nielsen, E. A., DeFranco, A. L. & Paul, W. E. in B and T Cell Tumors: Biological and Clinical Aspects Vol 24 (ed. Vitetta, E.) 215–220 (Academic, New York, 1982).
Vieira, J. & Messing, J. Gene 19, 259–268 (1982).
Hanahan, D. J. molec. Biol. 166, 557–580 (1983).
Milner, R. M. & Sutcliffe, J. G. Nucleic Acids Res. 11, 5497–5520 (1983).
Foley, G. E. et al. Cancer 18, 522–529 (1965).
Karn, J., Barnett, L. & Brenner, S. Meth. Enzym. 101, 3–21 (1983).
Pulverlaft, R. J. V. J. clin. Path. 18, 261–273 (1965).
Southern, E. M. J. molec. Biol. 98, 503–517 (1975).
Rigby, P. W. J., Dieckmann, M., Rhodes, C. & Berg, P. J. molec. Biol. 113, 237–251 (1977).
Denhardt, D. T. Biochem. biophys. Res. Commun. 23, 641–646 (1966).
Laskey, R. A. & Mills, A. D. FEBS Lett. 82, 314–316 (1977).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Sims, J., Tunnacliffe, A., Smith, W. et al. Complexity of human T-cell antigen receptor β-chain constant- and variable-region genes. Nature 312, 541–545 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1038/312541a0
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/312541a0
This article is cited by
-
TRBC1-targeting antibody–drug conjugates for the treatment of T cell cancers
Nature (2024)
-
Structure-guided engineering of immunotherapies targeting TRBC1 and TRBC2 in T cell malignancies
Nature Communications (2024)
-
Pre-depletion of TRBC1+ T cells promotes the therapeutic efficacy of anti-TRBC1 CAR-T for T-cell malignancies
Molecular Cancer (2020)
-
Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation and Adoptive Cell Therapy in Peripheral T Cell Lymphoma
Current Hematologic Malignancy Reports (2020)
-
Targeting T cell malignancies using CAR-based immunotherapy: challenges and potential solutions
Journal of Hematology & Oncology (2019)
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.
