Diversity of T-Cell Receptor Structures Specific for Minimal Peptide/Ia Determinants: Implications for Immune Response Gene Defects

Abstract

The recent success in cloning the genes encoding the T-cell antigen receptor has led to rapid progress in understanding several aspects of the structure and expression of the receptor (reviewed in 1). The genomic organization, primary sequence and the rearrangement mechanisms have all suggested that the T-cell receptor is very similar to the well known antibody molecule. Also, combinatorial association between multiple gene segments encoding each of the two subunits (α and β) can lead to generation of a diversity of receptor structures comparable to that of the immunoglobulin molecule. It is therefore intriguing that with this enormous diversity potential in the available repertoire, there would be instances where T-cell responses specific for certain antigens would be absent.