The T-cell receptor delta chain locus is disrupted in the T-ALL associated t(11;14)(p13;q11) translocation.

Two T-ALL patients carrying a t(11;14)(p13;q11) translocation were analyzed. Southern blotting experiments demonstrated that both patients had rearranged their J delta genes and that the translocation involved the delta locus in both cases. In one patient, cloning, restriction mapping, and sequencing showed that the translocation occurred on a D delta 1-D delta 2-J delta 2 rearranged gene. In addition, the rearrangement on chromosome 11 occurred in both patients within a segment of less than or equal to 2 kb showing the presence in this region of a point of recurrent recombination.