Rearrangement by chromosomal inversion in the T cell receptor gamma locus in a murine alpha beta T cell clone.

Analyzing the T-cell receptor (TCR) repertoire of T lymphocytes specific for minor histocompatibility antigens, we isolated a TCR-alpha beta bearing T cell clone, TGVH9, which also expresses three different TCR-gamma mRNA. The sequences of these messengers indicate that one of them results from the rearrangement of V gamma 1 and J gamma 2 genes. Since these two segments are in inverted genomic transcriptional orientation, the joining of V gamma 1 to J gamma 2 occurred by chromosomal inversion. This mechanism, which was previously reported in TCR-beta and TCR-delta loci, can thus also occur to enlarge the diversity of the TCR-gamma repertoire.