Abstract
An essential property of the immune system is its ability to generate great diversity in antibody and T-cell immune responses. The genetic and molecular mechanisms responsible for the generation of antibody diversity have been investigated during the past several years1,2. The gene for the variable (V) region, which determines antigen specificity, is assembled when one member of each of the dispersed clusters of V gene segments, diversity (D) elements (for heavy chains only) and joining (J) segments are fused by DNA rearrangement1–3. The cloning of the β-chain of the T-cell antigen receptor4,5 revealed that the organization of the β-chain locus, which is similar to that of immunoglobulin genes6–12, is also composed of noncontiguous segments of V7–9, D10,11, J6,9,11 and constant (C) region genes6–12. The structure of the α-chain seems to consist of a V and a C domain connected by a J segment13–16. We report here that the human T-cell receptor α-chain gene consists of a number of noncontiguous V and J gene segments and a C region gene. The V region gene segment is interrupted by a single intron, whereas the C region contains four exons. The J segments, situated 5′ of the C region gene, are dispersed over a distance of at least 35 kilobases (kb). Signal sequences, which are presumably involved in DNA recombination, are found next to the V and J gene segments.
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
Tonegawa, S. Nature 302, 575–581 (1983).
Honjo, T. A. Rev. Immun. 1, 499–528 (1983).
Early, P., Huang, H., David, M., Calame, K. & Hood, L. Cell 19, 981–992 (1980).
Yanagi, Y. et al. Nature 308, 145–153 (1984).
Hedrick, S. M., Nielsen, E. A., Kavaler, J., Cohen, D. I. & Davis, M. M. Nature 308, 153–158 (1984).
Gascoigne, N. R. J., Chien, Y.-H., Becker, D. M., Kavaler, J. & Davis, M. M. Nature 310, 387–391 (1984).
Siu, G. et al. Cell 37, 393–401 (1984).
Chien, Y., Gascoigne, N., Kavaler, J., Lee, N. & Davis, M. Nature 309, 322–326 (1984).
Malissen, M. et al. Cell 37, 1101–1110 (1984).
Toyonaga, B., Yoshikai, Y., Vadaz, V., Chin, B. & Mak, W. T. Proc. natn. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. (in the press).
Clark, S. et al. Nature 311, 387–389 (1984).
Yoshikai, Y. et al. Nature 312, 521–524 (1984).
Chien, Y. et al. Nature 312, 31–35 (1984).
Saito, H. et al. Nature 312, 36–40 (1984).
Sim, G. et al. Nature 312, 771–775 (1984).
Yanagi, Y. et al. Proc. natn. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 82, 3430–3434 (1985).
Southern, E. M. J. molec. Biol. 98, 503–517 (1975).
Maniatis, T. et al. Cell 15, 687–701 (1978).
Alt, F. & Baltimore, D. Proc. natn. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 79, 4118–4122 (1982).
Caccia, N. et al. J. exp. Med. 161, 1255–1260 (1985).
Zeich, L. et al. Nature 308, 858–860 (1984).
Williams, D. et al. Cell 36, 101–109 (1984).
Lewis, W. et al. Nature (submitted).
Sanger, F., Nicklen, S. & Goulson, A. R. Proc. natn. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 74, 5463–5467.
Clark, S. P. & Mak, T. W. Proc. natn. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 74, 5463–5467 (1983).
Arden, B., Klotz, L. J., Siv, G. & Hood, E. L. Nature 316, 783–787 (1985).
Hayday, C. A. et al. Nature 316, 828–832 (1985).
Winoto, A., Mjolsness, S. & Hood, E. L. Nature 316, 832–836 (1985).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Yoshikai, Y., Clark, S., Taylor, S. et al. Organization and sequences of the variable, joining and constant region genes of the human T-cell receptor α-chain. Nature 316, 837–840 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1038/316837a0
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/316837a0
This article is cited by
-
T cell receptor beta germline variability is revealed by inference from repertoire data
Genome Medicine (2022)
-
Restricted T cell Vβ repertoire in renal allografts during acute and chronic rejection
Kidney International (1996)
-
T cell receptor usage in autoimmune disease
Immunology & Cell Biology (1995)
-
Newly identified ?? and ?? T-cell receptors
Journal of Clinical Immunology (1990)
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.