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QUESTION 4:

How to make 104 different T cell receptor gamma chains?

ANSWER to question 4:

From the TRG genes to the T cell receptor gamma chains

The TRG V-J rearrangements in the T cells create a combinatorial diversity of 20-30 recombinations. However, most of the gamma-delta T cells from the peripheral blood express predominantly a gamma-delta T cell receptors with V9-JP-C1 gamma chain. One important mechanism contributes to the T cell receptor chain diversity: the N diversity (N, for nucleotides) which results from deletion and/or addition of nucleotides at random by the terminal deoxynucleotidyltransferase and creates, at the V-J-JUNCTION, region not encoded in the germline DNA. In contrast to the immunoglobulin loci, there is no mechanism of somatic mutations in the T cell receptor loci.

Created: 11/06/2001
Last updated: Friday, 22-Sep-2023 18:15:36 CEST
Author: Marie-Paule Lefranc Marie-Paule.Lefranc@igh.cnrs.fr
Editor: Elodie Foulquier