Role of Different T Cell Receptors in the Development of Pre–T Cells
The development of pre–T cells with productive TCR-β rearrangements can be mediated by each the pre–T cell receptor (pre-TCR), the TCR-αβ as well as the TCR-γδ, albeit by distinct mechanisms. Although the TCR-γδ affects CD4−8− precursor cells irrespective of their rearrangement status by TCR-β mecha...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Online |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
The Rockefeller University Press
1997
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| Online Access: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2196301/ |
| Summary: | The development of pre–T cells with productive TCR-β rearrangements can be mediated by each the pre–T cell receptor (pre-TCR), the TCR-αβ as well as the TCR-γδ, albeit by distinct mechanisms. Although the TCR-γδ affects CD4−8− precursor cells irrespective of their rearrangement status by TCR-β mechanisms not involving TCR-β selection, both the preTCR and the TCR-αβ select only cells with productive TCR-β genes for expansion and maturation. The TCR-αβ appears to be much less effective than the pre-TCR because of the paucity of TCR-α proteins in TCR-β–positive precursors since an early expressed transgenic TCR-αβ can largely substitute for the pre-TCR. Thus, the TCR-αβ can assume a role not only in the rescue from programmed cell death of CD4+8+ but also of CD4−8− thymocytes. In evolution this double function of the TCR-αβ may have been responsible for the maturation of αβ T cells before the advent of the pre–TCR-α chain. |
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