T-CELL SPECIFIC REARRANGEMENT OF T-CELL RECEPTOR BETA-TRANSGENES IN MICE

To study rearrangement of T cell receptor (TCR) genes, transgenic mice were generated with a TCR β minilocus in germline configuration, containing three Vβ, two Dβ, fourteen Jβ and two Cβ gene segments and the TCR β enhancer. Using the polymerase chain reaction as an analytical tool both partial DJ as well as complete VDJ rearrangements were seen, indicating that the minilocus contained all sequence elements required for rearrangement. Rearrangements of minilocus gene segments were restricted to T cells in the thymus and the periphery and did not occur in B cells. Vβ8.3 and Vβ5 sequences encoded by the minilocus were expressed on the surface of peripheral T cells at high frequencies. Transgenic mice with TCR minilocus genes will be a useful system to identify DNA sequence elements required for regulation of rearrangement in vivo.