Sequence and diversity of rhesus monkey T-cell receptor ? chain genes

Abstract

We have sequenced 23 rearranged T-cell receptor beta chain (Tcrb) cDNA clones derived from peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) of a rhesus monkey. All of the clones have a variable-diversity-joining-constant (V-D-J-C) rearrangement similar to that of humans. Two rhesus constant (C) region genes were found, each closely resembling human Cb 1 and 2. All of the rhesus J region sequences align well with ten of the 13 reported human J regions. 17 of the 23 rhesus V region sequences could be assigned to families homologous with eight different human families (Vb 1, 2, 6, 7, 8, 9, 13, and 14). The remaining six V region sequences are more distantly related to human Vb 1 and 13. Thus, the organization and sequences of studied rhesus Tcrb chains resemble human homologs. An evolutionary tree analysis revealed paralogous relationships between specific members of the rhesus and human V region families. Analysis of synonymous and nonsynonymous nucleotide sequence differences indicated that the evolution of the presumed major histocompatibility complex (MHC)-contact regions of the Tcrb chains is less constrained than that of the framework regions.

Structure, diversity, and evolution of the T-cell receptor VB gene repertoire in primates

“…Chimpanzee sequences corresponding to 13 of 25 known human VB families were derived, with several cases of multiple members. Limited rhesus macaque sequence data relating to 10 human VB families have been previously described (Chen et al 1992;Levinson et al 1992). We sequenced members of eight of these (VB2, 6,7,8,9,13,22, and 23) including additional family members, together with representatives of seven new families (VB4,10,11,12,16,17,and 19).…”

Conservation of Nonpeptide Antigen Recognition by Rhesus Monkey Vγ2Vδ2 T Cells

“…The V␥2 and V␦2 variable regions are highly conserved between the rhesus monkey and humans (91 and 88%, respectively). V␤ genes show a similar level of amino acid similarity because 17 different V␤ genes averaged 88% similarity to their human counterparts (44). The amino acid differences noted in the CDR1 and CDR2 of V␥2 and V␦2 variable regions are mainly conservative changes that are localized to less exposed regions of the TCR on our structural model (Fig.…”

Contribution of T-Cell Receptor Repertoire Breadth to the Dominance of Epitope-Specific CD8+T-Lymphocyte Responses

“…Therefore, we employed a PCR-based approach to assess the TCR repertoire of these rhesus monkey cell populations. Based on data generated through extensive sequencing of rhesus monkey TCR ␤-chain cDNAs (7,9,12,27), we developed a series of 34 forward primers specific for ␤-chain variable region (V␤) gene families and subfamilies (see …”