Relative size and evolution of the germline repertoire of T-cell receptor beta-chain gene segments in nonhuman primates.

The mammalian T-cell receptor (TCR) gene complexes exist as multiple tandemly arrayed gene segments that have apparently arisen by gene duplication mechanisms. A study of the number of TCR germline gene segments in several primate species might provide insight into the relative rate and patterns of gene duplication and deletion within these gene complexes. DNA probes from the TCR beta-chain variable (TCRBV) region gene segment subfamilies 1 through 25 and the constant region gene segment were sequentially hybridized under low stringency to Southern blots containing genomic DNA of human, gorilla, orangutan, and pig-tailed macaque. The number of gene members in each subfamily was estimated from the number of hybridizing DNA fragments. The results show apparent examples of both TCRB V gene duplication and deletion since speciation of the Hominoids from Cercopithecoid (Old World) primates. For one putative duplication/deletion event involving six TCRBV gene segments, derivation and comparison of germline DNA sequence from macaque and human as well as Southern blot analysis of additional primates demonstrated that this event was a duplication that occurred after the divergence of the family Pongidae (Greater Apes) from Hylobatidae (Lesser Apes). Southern blot analysis of multiple pig-tailed macaques and their offspring suggests a degree of DNA sequence variability in these gene segments similar to that observed in humans. An appreciation of the size and variability of each TCRBV subfamily will be useful when considering the DNA primers and probes necessary to measure the relative usage of these TCRBV genes as part of the immune response in these nonhuman primates.