PubMed · 1991 · 17 citations · 0 references
Life SciencesGeneticsImmunologyCellular ImmunologyGenome OrganizationMolecular ImmunologyAntigen Receptor DiversityAntigen Receptor Gene RearrangementAntigen RecognitionImmunoglobulin Gene RearrangementT Cell BiologyT-cell Receptor GeneticsReceptorsT Cell ReceptorsT-cell Receptor Gene LociT-cell Receptor Gene OrganizationT-cell Receptor Gene SegmentsT-cell Receptor Gene UsageT-cell Receptor Locus RearrangementT-cell Receptor Variable Region Diversity
T lymphocytes recognize antigens through their membrane bound T-cell receptors. Whereas the conventional T-cell receptors are heterodimers of alpha and beta chains, expressed at the surface of CD3+ CD4+ and CD3+ CD8+ T lymphocytes, the gamma delta T-cell receptors are found at the surface of a subset of T-lymphocytes of phenotype CD3+ CD4- CD8-. The synthesis of the T-cell receptor chains results from the junction (or rearrangement) of DNA segments: Variable (V) gene and joining (J) segment for the alpha and gamma chains, V gene, D (diversity) and J segments for the beta and delta chains. In this review, we summarize the recent findings on the genomic organization of the alpha, beta, gamma and delta T-cell receptor loci in human.