| First Author | Snodgrass HR | Year | 1985 |
| Journal | Nature | Volume | 315 |
| Issue | 6016 | Pages | 232-3 |
| PubMed ID | 3873615 | Mgi Jnum | J:7874 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:56343 | Doi | 10.1038/315232a0 |
| Citation | Snodgrass HR, et al. (1985) Expression of T-cell antigen receptor genes during fetal development in the thymus. Nature 315(6016):232-3 |
| abstractText | The T-cell antigen receptor is a heterodimeric molecule composed of alpha- and beta-subunits of relative molecular mass 40,000-50,000 (refs 1-6). Recently, the genes encoding both the beta- and alpha- chains have been cloned. By comparing amino-acid and nucleic-acid sequences, it is clear that these genes encode the alpha- and beta-proteins of the T-cell receptor. In addition, a third receptor-like gene, the gamma-chain gene, has been identified, which has many structural and sequence characteristics in common with the alpha- and beta-chain genes. The role of the gamma-chain gene in T-cell development is unknown. We have reported recently that the beta-chain genes are transcriptionally turned on in the thymus at about day 17 of fetal development. Here we report that the alpha-chain also is transcriptionally activated during this time, but that the gamma-chain gene is active in the thymus at day 14, reaches a peak steady-state level at day 15 and rapidly declines thereafter. If the gamma-chain gene has a functional role, it would seem to be involved very early in T-cell development, before the mature T-cell receptor is expressed. |
