ABSTRACT
A feature that distinguishes gammadelta T cell subsets from most alphabeta T cells and B cells is the association of expression of single T cell receptor (TCR) gamma and delta variable (V) region gene segments with specific anatomic sites. Mice lacking the TCR Vgamma5 chain normally expressed by most dendritic epidermal T cells were shown to retain a conformational determinant (idiotype) ordinarily expressed exclusively by such Vgamma5+ cells. Conservation by shuffled gammadelta TCR chains of an idiotype associated with a specific anatomic site indicates that for TCRgammadelta, as for immunoglobulin, conformation is associated to a greater extent with the function or development of lymphocyte repertoires than is the use of particular gene segments.
Subject(s)
Dendritic Cells/immunology , Epidermis/immunology , Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, gamma-delta/genetics , Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, gamma-delta/immunology , T-Lymphocyte Subsets/immunology , Animals , Cell Line , Epidermal Cells , Epitopes/analysis , Female , Gene Rearrangement , Hybridomas , Male , Mice , Mice, Inbred C57BL , Polymerase Chain Reaction , Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length , Protein Conformation , Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, gamma-delta/chemistryABSTRACT
Chimeric mice in which lymphocytes are deficient in the Syk tyrosine kinase have been created. Compared with Syk-positive controls, mice with Syk -/- lymphocytes display substantial depletion of intraepithelial gamma delta T cells in the skin and gut, with developmental arrest occurring after antigen receptor gene rearrangement. In this dependence on Syk, subsets of intraepithelial gamma delta T cells are similar to B cells, but distinct from splenic gamma delta T cells that develop and expand in Syk-deficient mice. The characteristic associations of certain T-cell receptor V gamma/V delta gene rearrangements with specific epithelia are also disrupted by Syk deficiency.
