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Different TCRBV genes generate biased patterns of V-D-J diversity in human T cells

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Abstract

The aim of this work was to assess whether each T-cell receptor (TCR) BV segment generates a random pattern of junctional diversity or if, alternatively, biased patterns of V-D-J rearrangements limit the number of available TCR specificities. Detailed molecular analysis of T-cell receptors expressed by lymphocytes was obtained by generating a large number of junctional regions sequences from TCRBV3, TCRBV4, TCRBV5S1, TCRBV12, TCRBV13S2, TCRBV17, TCRBV20, and TCRBV22 variable genes. The > 800 sequences analyzed have allowed the characterization of the recombination frequencies of each germline-encoded V,D, and J segments, as well as of the magnitude of exonucleolytic nibbling and of the number of N nucleotides inserted for each group of TCRB segments. The data obtained indicate that the extent of junctional diversity varies considerably depending on the TCRBV gene implicated in the recombination event, due to the occurrence of skewed patterns of J and D region usage. Furthermore, our results show that “illegitimate” rearrangements occur with unexpectedly high incidence, specifically at the level of TCRBD to TCRBJ joining. These findings provide additional information for a more accurate estimation of the size of the TCRBV repertoire and for understanding the well-established biased pattern of TCRBV expression in humans.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Consorzio per le Biotecnologie, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Department of Chemistry, School of Medicine, University of Brescia, P. le Spedali Civili, 1, 25123, Brescia, Italy

    Eugenia Quiròs Roldan, Alessandra Sottini, Alessandra Bettinardi & Daniele Primi

  2. Terzo Laboratorio Analisi, Spedali Civili, 25123, Brescia, Italy

    Alberto Albertini & Luisa Imberti

Authors
  1. Eugenia Quiròs Roldan
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  2. Alessandra Sottini
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  3. Alessandra Bettinardi
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  4. Alberto Albertini
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  5. Luisa Imberti
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  6. Daniele Primi
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Additional information

The nucleotide sequence data reported in this paper have been submitted to the EMBL nucleotide sequence database and have been assigned the accession number DS 19973

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Roldan, E.Q., Sottini, A., Bettinardi, A. et al. Different TCRBV genes generate biased patterns of V-D-J diversity in human T cells. Immunogenetics 41, 91–100 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00182318

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00182318

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