T-cell receptor genes

genes encoding the four subunits (α, β, γ, δ) of the T-cell receptor (TCR).

From the individual gene segments that code for the specificity of the TCR (V, D, and J segments), a complete gene is produced by the process of immunoglobulin gene rearrangement, which is then expressed together with exons (part of a mosaic gene that codes for a partial region contained in functional RNA). In the case of T-cell receptor genes, too, the large number of possible T-cell receptors encoded by these genes is based on the free combination of gene segments as well as on their not quite exact connection and on the additional insertion of nucleotides during rearrangement. Rearrangement of the T-cell receptor gene allows to distinguish between monoclonal and polyclonal T-cell populations in the characterization of lymphoid infiltrates. In the PCR technique, the DNA to be analyzed is amplified with specific primers for the subunits of the T cell receptor gene and subsequently separated using electrophoretic techniques.