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. 1995 Apr 25;92(9):3712–3716. doi: 10.1073/pnas.92.9.3712

Regulation of T-cell antigen receptor (TCR) alpha-chain expression by TCR beta-chain transcripts.

S Chung 1, J L Strominger 1
PMCID: PMC42031  PMID: 7731970

Abstract

The TCR is an alpha beta heterodimer, a part of the multimeric structure through which physiological T-cell activation occurs. The expression of TCR alpha chain is greatly diminished in a beta-chain-deficient mutant Jurkat cell line (J.RT3-T3.5). The relationship between the expression of the TCR alpha and beta chains has been examined by stable transfection of a series of TCR beta-chain mutant constructs into this mutant cell line. The level of alpha-chain transcript was dramatically upregulated by the expression of the beta chain and specifically by a transcript of the beta-chain variable region alone, including a transcript in which the ATG start codon was mutated. The downregulation of the endogenous alpha-chain transcripts in mutants cells lacking complete beta-chain transcripts occurred primarily at the posttranscriptional level. This evidence for a regulatory function of the TCR beta-chain gene represents an unusual regulatory pathway in which the transcript of one gene is required for the optimal expression of another gene.

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