Regulation of N-region diversity in antigen receptors through thymocyte differentiation and thymus ontogeny

M. Bogue, S. Gilfillan, C. Benoist, D. Mathis

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

146 Scopus citations

Abstract

The random addition of "N nucleotides" by terminal deoxynucleotidyltransferase (TdT) is an important component of the diversity of T-cell receptor genes. We have investigated the expression of TdT during thymocyte differentiation and thymus ontogeny. TdT gene transcripts are confined to immature thymocytes of the cortex, being down-regulated concomitantly with recombination-activating gene transcripts after positive selection of mature medullary T cells. According to in situ hybridization, TdT RNA is absent from the neonatal thymus, but it appears 3 to 5 days after birth, just before the appearance of significant N-region diversity in T-cell receptor junctional sequences but clearly after the thymus attains competence at clonal deletion.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)11011-11015
Number of pages5
JournalProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Volume89
Issue number22
StatePublished - 1992

Keywords

  • T-cell receptor
  • T-cell repertoire
  • T-lymphocyte maturation
  • Terminal deoxynucleotidyltransferase

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