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Crucial role of the pre-T-cell receptor α gene in development of ap but not γδ T cells

A Correction to this article was published on 01 November 1995

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Abstract

IN T-cell precursors, the T-cell-receptor β chain is expressed before the T-cell-receptor α chain1,2 and is sufficient to advance T-cell development in the absence of T-cell receptor α chains3–7. In immature T cells, the T-cell-receptor β protein can form disulphide-linked heterodimers with the pre-T-cell-receptor α chain8,9 and associate with signal-transducing CD3 molecules5. The recently cloned pre-T-cell-receptor a gene encodes a transmembrane protein that is expressed in immature but not mature T cells9,10. Here we show that αβ, but not γδ, cell development is severely hampered in pre-T-cell-receptor α-gene-deficient mice, which establishes a crucial role for the pre-T-cell receptor in early thymocyte development.

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Fehling, H., Krotkova, A., Saint-Ruf, C. et al. Crucial role of the pre-T-cell receptor α gene in development of ap but not γδ T cells. Nature 375, 795–798 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1038/375795a0

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