We have identified a novel cDNA encoding a protein (named TX) with > 50% overall sequence identity with the interleukin‐1 beta converting enzyme (ICE) and approximately 30% sequence identity with the ICE homologs NEDD‐2/ICH‐1L and CED‐3. A computer homology model of TX was constructed based on the X‐ray coordinates of the ICE crystal recently published. This model suggests that TX is a cysteine protease, with the P1 aspartic acid substrate specificity retained. Transfection experiments demonstrate that TX is a protease which is able to cleave itself and the p30 ICE precursor, but not to generate mature IL‐1 beta from pro‐IL‐1 beta. In addition, this protein induces apoptosis in transfected COS cells. TX therefore delineates a new member of the growing Ice/ced‐3 gene family coding for proteases with cytokine processing activity or involved in programmed cell death.

We report here the characterization of a series of T cell receptor (TcR) V alpha or V beta subfamily-specific oligonucleotide primers. Criteria that have guided the design of each oligonucleotide include appropriate thermodynamic parameters as well as differential base-pairing scores with related and unrelated target sequences. The specificity of the oligonucleotides for each V alpha or V beta subfamily was tested by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) on both a series of TcR encoding plasmid DNA and clonal T cell populations. Unexpected cross-reactivities were observed with plasmid cDNA sequences corresponding to unrelated subfamily gene segments. This led to the synthesis of additional series of oligonucleotides to obtain a relevant panel. A series of V alpha 1-w29/V beta 1-w24 TcR subfamily-specific oligonucleotides was eventually selected which generates little, if any, cross-reactivity. The use of C alpha or C beta primers for the amplification of internal positive control templates (i.e. C beta for the V alpha series and C alpha for the V beta series) has been tested in PCR performed with cDNA derived from peripheral blood lymphocytes; it was shown not to alter the amplification of the V subfamily-specific DNA fragments. This panel of oligonucleotides will be helpful in the study of TcRV gene segment usage and, thus, may lead to a better characterization of T cell responses in physiological and pathological situations.

Interleukin‐1 beta converting enzyme (ICE) is composed of 10′ (p10) and 20 kDa (p20) subunits, which are derived from a common 45 kDa precursor. Recent crystallographic studies have shown that ICE exists as a tetramer (p20/p10)2 in the crystal lattice. We provide evidence that the p10 and p20 subunits of ICE associate as oligomers in transfected COS cells. Using intragenic complementation, we show that the activity of a p10/p10 interface mutant defective in autoprocessing can be restored by co‐expression with active site ICE mutants. Different active site mutants can also complement each other by oligomerization to form active ICE. These studies indicate that ICE precursor polypeptides may associate in different quaternary structures and that oligomerization is required for autoprocessing. Furthermore, integenic complementation of active site mutants of ICE and an ICE homolog restores autoprocessing activity, suggesting that hetero‐oligomerization occurs between ICE homologs.

Seven distinct anti-human T cell receptor (TcR) V region monoclonal antibodies (mAb) were generated by immunizing mice with either human T cell lines or transfected murine cells expressing human TcR V beta genes. The specificity of these reagents was determined as follows: T cells recognized by each mAb were purified from the peripheral blood of healthy donors and TcR transcripts expressed in these cells were analyzed using oligonucleotide-driven amplification and cDNA sequencing. Four mAb were found to delineate the V beta 3, V beta 8, V beta 17 and V beta 19 subfamilies, respectively. The remaining reagents recognize subsets within the V beta 2, V beta 5 and V beta 13 subfamilies. Reactivity of the mAb with circulating T cells from 18 unrelated healthy individuals was determined. Limited variability was found from an individual to another. In four donors, mAb staining was compared to oligonucleotide-driven amplification for evaluation of V beta 3, V beta 8, V beta 17 and V beta 19 subfamily expression in the peripheral blood. Although the V gene subfamily-specific oligonucleotides used in this study belong to a carefully controlled series, our results show that this method does not give an accurate estimate of the percentage of peripheral T cells expressing a given TcR beta chain. The present data confirm the necessity to establish a complete set of well-characterized monoclonal reagents to study human T cell responses.