The level of N-region diversity in T cell receptors is not pre-ordained in the stem cell.

The alpha beta T cell repertoires of adults and neonates are distinctly different. For example, T cell receptors (TcR) from adult animals have substantial N-nucleotide addition at their V-D-J junctions while those from neonatal animals do not. This dichotomy reflects a rather abrupt change in expression of the terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase (TdT) gene in thymocytes on day 4 after birth. We have asked whether this change is due to the differentiation of successive waves of stem cells harboring different potentials for TdT expression, a scenario like the one proposed to explain developmental regulation of gamma delta T cell repertoires. Reconstitution of adult severe combined immunodeficiency mice with either fetal liver or adult bone marrow precursors gave rise to T cells with substantial N-region diversity in their TcR, even at the earliest points of reconstitution. It is most likely, then, that the abrupt change in TdT gene expression in day 4 thymocytes is due to an environmentally induced switch-on.